Etymologically
Log in

praeiudicium

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 01:04. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [prae̯.juːˈdɪ.ki.ũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pre.juˈdiː.t͡ʃi.um][1]

Forms

praeiūdicium n (genitive praeiūdiciī or praeiūdicī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prae- (“before”) + iūdicium (“judgement”).[2][1] The TLL derives it from praeiūdicō (“to prejudge”) or from iūdicium.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero, who writes in De inventione that a trial before recoverers should not prejudge a charge of murder.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

In law it is a preliminary action that settles a question, such as someone's status, before the main trial.[2] It is also an earlier decision that affects a case: Cicero has Metellus say that he does not want this trial to prejudge the case of Verres.[2] Lewis & Short quote Cicero dividing precedents into three kinds.[5] Caesar uses it of an example to be followed: in a speech, Pompey is said to have left Italy moved by the precedent of what the listeners had done.[2] It is also an opinion formed in advance, usually unfavourable.[2] In medieval Latin it is a legal disadvantage, a threat to someone's rights, a grievance and a wrong.[6] English prejudice comes from it, partly through Old French, about 1300.[7] Manuscripts often spell it ⟨pre-⟩.[3]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of preliminary judgements and precedents.[2][4]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of a precedent.[2][4]
  • c. 1300 – English borrows it as prejudice.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (law) A preliminary inquiry or action deciding a question before the main trial.[2][8]
  2. A previous judgement or ruling that affects a case, a prejudgement; a precedent, example.[2][5][8][1]
  3. An opinion formed in advance, usually adverse, prejudice.[2][8][1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A legal disadvantage, jeopardy of a person's rights; a grievance; a wrong, encroachment.[6][8]

Word family

  • praeiūdiciālis

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson