iudex

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈjuː.dɛks]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈjuː.deks]^[1]

Forms

iūdex m (genitive iūdicis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of iūs “law” and an agent noun from the root of dīcō “to say, show”, so “one who declares the law”.^[2][1][3] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *jowes-dik- (“judge”).^[4] Early inscriptions spell it with ⟨ou⟩.^[2][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the Twelve Tables, about 450 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a person appointed to decide a case at law, a judge, and a member of a panel hearing a case, a juror, especially in the standing courts.^[2][6] It was used of a judge or umpire in a contest, as Catullus' Phrygian judge Paris, and by transfer of a critic or assessor.^[2] It is sometimes feminine, as in Lucan.^[2][7]

In Late and Medieval Latin it meant any public official, and in the plural the magnates; in Britain it was the justice in eyre, and in Poland a land or castle judge.^[8][9][10] It survives in Italian giudice, French juge and Spanish juez.^[1] Through Old French juge it is the source of English judge, as a noun in the mid-14th century.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it.^[5]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of Paris as judge.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of judges appointed by the praetor.^[6][5]
• mid-14th century – English judge is recorded as a noun.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A judge (in a case at law).^[2]
2. A juror.^[2]
3. A judge, umpire (in a contest).^[2]
4. A critic, assessor.^[2]
5. (Medieval Latin) A public official.^[8]

Word family

• iūdicātus
• iūdicium
• iūdicābilis
• iūdicātiō
• iūdicātō
• iūdicātum
• iūdiciālis
• iūdiciāliter
• iūdiciārius
• iūdiciolum
• iūdicō

Related words

• iūdicātōrius
• iūdicātrix
• iūstitia
• iūs
• dīcō
• English judge

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
10. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl