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verumdictum

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Forms

vērumdictum n (genitive vērumdictī); second declension[1] Also spelled veredictum, veridictum and verdictum, and written apart as verum dictum.[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin vērus (“true”) + dictum (“something said”), literally “a true saying”.[1][2] The DMLBS sets beside it Anglo-Norman veirdit and Middle English verdit.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record in the DMLBS is an English Pipe Roll of 1168, in which a sheriff renders account per verumdictum vicecomitis, “according to the sheriff's sworn statement”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Niermeyer distinguishes a procedure in which proof was established by a sentence of qualified men who knew the case, a solemn statement, mostly under oath, and the sworn statement of a jury of neighbours after an inquest, the verdict of the “country”.[1] In English records it is the verdict or presentment of a jury: around 1200 an advowson was restored secundum verdictum legalium hominum vicinie, “according to the verdict of lawful men of the neighbourhood”.[2]

English verdict is an alteration of Middle English verdit, from Anglo-French, whose spelling and pronunciation were influenced by Medieval Latin verdictum.[3]

Timeline

  • 1168 – An English Pipe Roll uses verumdictum of a sheriff's sworn statement.[2]
  • 1180 – A Pipe Roll records a payment by someone who had concealed a fact in his verum dictum.[2]
  • c. 1200 – The form verdictum appears in an English formulary, of the verdict of lawful men of the neighbourhood.[2]
  • 1232 – The Patent Rolls speak of a man who put himself on the veredictum of his neighbourhood.[2]
  • 1530s – English verdict takes its spelling from the Medieval Latin word.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin, law) A procedure of proof by the sentence of qualified men who know the case.[1]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A solemn statement, usually made under oath.[1]
  3. (Medieval Latin, law) The sworn statement of a jury after an inquest; a verdict, presentment.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
  3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com