Etymologically
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juger

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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

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