verdict English · revision 10449

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1297|origins=xno verdit|origins=la verum|origins=la dictum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈvɜː.dɪkt/, US /ˈvɝː.dɪkt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an alteration of Middle English verdit,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) [[bor|xno|verdit|t=sworn testimony, judgment]] (Old French voirdit), literally a true saying,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from ver, veir, true (from Latin vērum) and dit, said (from Latin dictum, from dīcere, to say; see [[diction]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) The spelling with -ct, current from the 16th century, was influenced by Medieval Latin vērdictum, vērēdictum.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The decision of a jury in a case: 1297 in the OED, about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A judgement given by an authority acting as a jury is from about 1381,^(OED 1989) and a decision or opinion on any matter from about 1386 (the late 14th century),^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) when it was still verdit, a form Milton used.^(Etymonline) The spelling verdict is from 1533.^(Barnhart 1988) An ''open verdict'' of a coroner is from 1607.^(OED 1989) After the Norman Conquest French was the language of English law, and verdict is one of many legal terms from it.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1297 – a jury's decision.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1386 – an opinion.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1533 – the spelling verdict.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1607 – open verdict.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The finding of a [[jury]] in a trial.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Any decision, judgement or opinion.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[directed verdict]]

+ * [[Scotch verdict]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[verify]]

+ * [[veritable]]

+ * [[very]]

+ * [[diction]]

+ * [[dictum]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Somerset dialect, the word survived as vardit or vardy, an opinion.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}