juiz

Forms

juiz m or f by sense (dated) or m (plural juízes, feminine juíza, feminine plural juízas)^[1] Medieval texts write juiz (1265), joyz and iuyz (13th century), and later juíz and the plural jujzes (15th century).^[2] The plural is juízes and the feminine juíza.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin iūdex (“judge”), recorded as Old Galician-Portuguese juiz in 1265 and as Old Galician-Portuguese joyz and Old Galician-Portuguese iuyz in the 13th century.^[2][1] Houaiss, Aurélio and Nascentes derive it from a Vulgar Latin form stressed on the second syllable, *judíce, instead of the classical stress on the first.^[2][3][4] The word is still pronounced in two syllables, ju-iz, with the stress on the second vowel.^[2][1]

The same Latin word is Galician xuíz, Spanish juez, Catalan jutge, French juge, Italian giudice and Romanian jude.^[5][1] Corominas calls the Spanish word semi-learned and records Old Spanish judez in 1129 and the modern form in 1146; whether it continues the nominative or the accusative has been discussed.^[6]

The Latin noun is formed from iūs (“law”) and the root of dīcō (“to say, indicate”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates juiz to 1265, a record in Cunha's slips of medieval Portuguese.^[2] The cantigas use it for a judge before whom a case is proved, and maior juiz for the chief rabbi, the courtier who mediated between the king and the Jewish community.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In the medieval towns of Galicia and Portugal the juiz was the head of the council and presided over the court of the alcaldes, with judicial, administrative and military duties, as the records of Noia show.^[8] Morais (1789) distinguishes the juiz ordinario, a lay judge of the place, from the juizes de fora appointed to the towns by King Manuel.^[9]

The word widened from the judge of a court to anyone who decides or assesses: the referee of a game, a member of a prize jury, a good or bad judge of art.^[2][3] It also names the person who presides over a church festival or a confraternity.^[2][10] In rural Portugal the juiz could be the winner of the flag, the “king” of a village feast, or the stick set by a heap of threshed wheat to mark the grain already cleaned.^[11] In Rio Grande do Sul it is also the judge of livestock shows and of horse races.^[12]

Timeline

• 1265 – first record, as juiz.^[2]
• 13th century – the spellings joyz and iuyz.^[2]
• c. 1430 – the word in the Horto do Esposo (copied 1390–1437).^[13]
• 15th century – the spellings juíz and jujzes.^[2]
• 1538 – Juyz in a private letter.^[14]
• 1712 – Bluteau defines the judge as the minister who tries civil or criminal cases.^[15]
• 1789 – Morais describes the juiz ordinario and the juizes de fora.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A judge, a person with public authority to try cases and administer justice; a member of the judiciary.^[2][16][1]
2. Anyone who has, or claims, authority to decide and judge in some matter.^[2][3]
3. A referee or umpire in a sports competition; an arbiter.^[2][17][1]
4. A member of the jury of a competition or prize.^[2][3]
5. (figurative) A person able to assess something, or the means by which one judges.^[2]
6. The person who presides over a religious festival or a confraternity.^[2][10]
7. (history) Each of the leaders of the Hebrews before the monarchy.^[2][10]

Word family

• juizado
• juiz de paz

Related words

• juízo
• julgar
• Latin iūdex
• Galician xuíz
• Spanish juez

Usage notes

Juiz de paz is a justice of the peace, juiz de direito a professional judge of a district court.^[1][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. juiz
3. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. juiz
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. juiz
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 536
7. ^ Universo Cantigas: Glosario da poesía medieval profana galego-portuguesa, A Coruña: Instituto da Lingua e Literatura (ILLA), Universidade da Coruña, https://www.universocantigas.gal, p. s.v. juiz
8. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. juiz
9. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 746
10. ^ a b c d Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. juiz
11. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. juiz
12. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. juiz
13. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. juiz
14. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. juiz
15. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. juiz
16. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. juiz
17. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5499