giudizio

Forms

giudizio m (plural giudizi)^[1] Archaic forms are giudicio and iudicio.^[2][3][4][1]

Etymology

It is a learned word: it is borrowed from Latin iūdicium (“legal process; judgement”).^[5][6][1][7] The Latin noun is formed from iūdex (“judge”) with -ium, or from iūdicō (“to judge”).^[7][8][1] Like the whole family of iūs (“law, right”) it kept its technical legal sense only in part, and already in Latin it had widened to “opinion, thought”.^[7]

The word for “judge” probably goes back to a compound of the noun for “law” and the root of dīcō (“to say”).^[9] Related forms are Old French juise, Spanish juicio and Portuguese juízo.^[5][10] DEI says the Latin word was borrowed by the western Romance languages too, but kept in Romanian județ.^[6][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record, as iudiciu, is in the Umbrian formula of confession, before 1089, with the sense of the mind's faculty of comparing and distinguishing.^[7][11] The form giudizio itself is first found in Giordano da Pisa, before 1311.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century the word already had its main senses: an opinion, and in law a trial, both in Guittone d'Arezzo before 1294, the Last Judgement in Giamboni before 1292, and a decision or sentence in Guido Cavalcanti.^[7] The sense “good sense, prudence” is noted in a dictionary of 1798 as common in its day, though Boccaccio had already called a foolish man ironically messer lo giudicio.^[7]

In logic a giudizio is the act of joining a subject and a predicate, recorded in Tommaseo's dictionary in 1869.^[7][11] Its derivatives giudiziale and giudiziario come from the Latin adjectives iūdiciālis and iūdiciārius.^[5][7]

Timeline

• Before 1089 – iudiciu appears in the Umbrian confession formula.^[7][11]
• Before 1292 – Giamboni uses the word for the Last Judgement.^[7]
• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses it for an opinion and for a trial.^[7]
• Before 1311 – Giordano da Pisa uses the form giudizio.^[7]
• c. 1336 – giudiziale is first recorded, in Boccaccio.^[7]
• Before 1472 – giudizioso “judicious” is recorded.^[7]
• 1798 – a dictionary notes the sense “good sense”.^[7]
• 1869 – the logical sense is recorded by Tommaseo.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. An opinion or assessment that goes beyond stating a fact: Secondo il mio giudizio, il progetto va rivisto.^[11][2][3]
2. The faculty of judging; discernment, good sense: un ragazzo con poco giudizio.^[11][2][12]
3. (logic, philosophy) A judgement: the mental act that joins a subject and a predicate.^[11][12]
4. (law) A trial, legal proceedings, or the verdict that ends them.^[11][3][13]
5. A decision of a jury or commission; in schools, an evaluation or mark.^[11][1]
6. (religion) The Last Judgement, also a painting of it.^[11][13]

Word family

• giudizioso
• giudiziale
• giudiziario
• pregiudizio

Related words

• giudice
• giudicare
• Latin iudicium

Usage notes

Denti del giudizio are the wisdom teeth, mettere giudizio is “to come to one's senses”, and a mio giudizio means “in my opinion”.^[12][2][14] Giorno del giudizio is Judgement Day.^[11][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1819
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli