juger

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʒy.ʒe/^[1]

Forms

juger^[1] Old French jugier, juger from the 13th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French jugier, inherited from Latin iūdicō (“to pass judgement; to decide, assess”), from iūdex (“judge”) (see juge).^{[4][3][5][1][6]} Littré and the GLLF analyse “iūdex” as formed from iūs (“law”) and dīcō (“to say”).^[7][2]

Cognate with Italian giudicare, Old Occitan jutjar, Spanish juzgar and Portuguese julgar.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) jugier a mort is to sentence to death.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

It took its legal sense, “to try a case”, in the 11th century, and in Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose (1269–1278) it means to form an opinion of things and, with an adjective, “to consider as”.^[3][4] Monstrelet (about 1450) uses it for giving one's view of someone.^[4] The phrase au juger “by guesswork” probably comes from hunting, where juger une beste (about 1270) was to judge where the game was.^[4][3]

Classical French added juger de “to imagine” (1636, Corneille) and jugez si… (1656, Molière).^[4] Used absolutely it is “to use one's discernment” (1564), a sense taken up in philosophy and psychology.^[4][3]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Jugier a mort, Chanson de Roland.^[4]
• c. 1270 – Juger une beste, in hunting.^[4]
• 1269–1278 – “To appraise; to consider as”, Jean de Meun.^[4]
• 1283 – To try a case, Beaumanoir.^[5][2]
• 1564 – Absolute “to use discernment”.^[4]
• 1636 – Juger de “to imagine”, Corneille.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (law) To try, judge: juger une affaire, un accusé, l'autorité de la chose jugée.^[8][1]
2. To decide as an arbiter: juger un différend, l'histoire jugera.^[8]
3. To form an opinion of, assess: juger qqn sur ses actes, juger de, to judge of.^[4][8]
4. To consider, deem: juger utile de…, je juge que….^[4][1]
5. To imagine: jugez de ma surprise.^[4]
6. Au juger: by guesswork.^[3]

Word family

• jugement
• jugeotte
• préjuger
• préjugé
• déjuger
• méjuger

Related words

• juge
• Latin iūdicō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 56a
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert