Etymology and origin of the Old French word jugement
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 1085–1100 Rashi's French glosses More words from the 11th century
- Ultimate origin
- Latin iūdex
From the same root
Forms
jugement m (oblique plural jugemenz, jugementz; nominative singular jugemenz, jugementz)[1]
Chrétien de Troyes writes jugemant, Picard texts jucement and Anglo-Norman ones also jogement.[2][4]
Etymology
It is formed from Old French jugier (“to judge”) + -ment.[5][6] Wiktionary also allows a continuation of Late Latin iūdicāmentum (“judgement”),[1] a Medieval Latin word for a sentence or a plea.[7] The verb continues Latin iūdicō (“to judge”), from iūdex (“judge”),[8] and the DEAF sees in its survival across the whole Romance area the lasting use of Roman law.[2] The corresponding word is Old Occitan jujament.[1]
Earliest recorded meaning
The DEAF's earliest record is a gloss on Isaiah in Rashi's commentaries at the end of the 11th century, written in Hebrew letters, followed by the Chanson de Roland, where the word means a sentence given by an authority entitled to judge.[2][9] The TLFi also starts with the Roland, about 1100, for a sentence pronounced by a court or judge.[5][10]
Semantic evolution
Early in the 12th century the Voyage de saint Brendan uses the word for the Last Judgement.[5] About 1165 Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie has it for an appraisal outside the law, and Chrétien de Troyes uses au mien jugemant for “in my opinion”.[5][4] The DEAF also records it for the proceedings to obtain a sentence and for the carrying out of one, and in proverbs such as Jugement n'espargne nului “judgement spares no one”.[2]
The faculty of judging is first named so by Oresme in 1370–1372, and the logical sense of an assertion dates from Descartes in 1637.[5] The modern word jugement keeps the legal and the mental senses.[5]
Timeline
- end of the 11th century – in Rashi's glosses, in Hebrew letters.[2][9]
- c. 1100 – a court's sentence in the Chanson de Roland.[5][10]
- early 12th century – the Last Judgement in the Voyage de saint Brendan.[5]
- 1113–1119 – the earliest Anglo-Norman record the AND cites.[3]
- c. 1165 – an appraisal outside the law in the Roman de Troie.[5]
- c. 1176 – jugemant in Chrétien de Troyes's Cligès.[4]
- 1370–1372 – the faculty of judging, in Oresme.[5]
Meanings
Noun
- a judgement, sentence or verdict given by an authority.[2][4][3]
- a trial, court proceedings.[11][3]
- the Last Judgement.[12][5][3]
- opinion, appraisal (au mien jugement “in my opinion”).[4][13]
- (law, Anglo-Norman) a judicial writ.[3]
Anglo-Norman
The AND first cites the word from 1113–1119 and lists spellings from jogement and jougement to judgement, juggement and jugment.[3] Beside judgement, sentence and opinion, it records legal phrases for trial and fair trial, the writ against suitors who gave a false judgement, and Judgement Day.[3] English judgment, from the middle of the 13th century, was taken from the Old French word.[6]
Descendants
Usage notes
The word is headed jugement in Tobler–Lommatzsch, the DÉCT, the AND and the DMF; the DEAF treats it in its article jugier and the FEW under Latin jūdicāre.[14][4][3][2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h Baldinger, Kurt; Möhren, Frankwalt; Städtler, Thomas, eds. (1971–2021), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF), Heidelberg: Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften; DEAFél / DEAFpré, deaf-server.adw.uni-heidelberg.de, p. s.v. jugier
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. jugement
- ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire électronique de Chrétien de Troyes (DÉCT), LFA / Université d'Ottawa – ATILF, CNRS / Université de Lorraine (2014), p. s.v. jugement
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
- ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
- ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b Möhren, Frankwalt, Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF): Complément bibliographique, electronic version (DEAFBiblEl), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, alma.hadw-bw.de/deafbibl (texts by siglum, with their dates), p. RaschiD2
- ^ a b UD Old French PROFITEROLE and UD Middle French PROFITEROLE treebanks, Universal Dependencies (from the SRCMF and the Base de français médiéval; texts by DEAF siglum), p. RolS
- ^ Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 4:1841
- ^ Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 4:1842
- ^ Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 4:1843
- ^ Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 4:1838
Cite this entry
“Jugement.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fro/jugement. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.
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