judge English · revision 3149

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1200, Ancrene Riwle|origins=la iūs, la dīcere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dʒʌdʒ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb is [[inh|enm|jugen]], juggen,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) [[bor|xno|juger]], Old French jugier “to judge, pronounce judgment”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la|iūdicāre|t=to judge, examine officially, pronounce judgment]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from iūdex, iūdicem “a judge”.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) The noun is [[inh|enm|juge]], [[bor|fro|juge]], from [[la|iūdex|t=one who declares the law]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a compound of [[m|la|iūs|t=right, law]] and the root of [[m|la|dīcere|t=to say]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) which Etymonline takes to [[ine-pro|*deyḱ-|alt=*deik-|t=to show, pronounce solemnly]].^(Etymonline) The spelling with -dg- is not found before 1469 and was not established until the 1500s.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The Old English word was dēman, the source of [[doom]].^(Etymonline) The Latin words are also the source of Spanish juzgar and juez and Italian giudicare and giudice.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The verb, “to examine, appraise, form an opinion of”: probably before 1200, in the ''Ancrene Riwle'',^(Barnhart 1988) about 1200 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The noun, “a public officer appointed to administer the law”, is from 1303, in Mannyng's ''Handlyng Synne'',^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) with the surname Judge recorded earlier, in the early 13th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From about 1300 the verb meant to try someone and pronounce sentence, and also, intransitively, to decide, think or suppose.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The noun was used of God or Christ as supreme judge from before 1340.^(OED 1989) In the late 14th century it was extended to a person deciding a contest or dispute, an umpire, a sense found in Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and in the 1550s to anyone qualified to give an opinion, such as a judge of wine.^(Etymonline) In Jewish history the ''judges'' were leaders with temporary power, as in the Book of Judges (in English from 1382), the Latin iūdex translating Hebrew shophet.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''Sober as a judge'' goes back to the 17th century, when sober meant “serious, grave”.^(Cresswell 2021)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – verb, to examine, appraise.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * early 13th century – Judge as a surname.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1290 – verb, to try in a court.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1303 – noun, a public officer administering the law.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1382 – the Book of Judges.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1385 – an umpire in a contest.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1550s – one qualified to give an opinion.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1650 – ''sober as a judge''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A public official who hears and decides cases in a [[court]] of [[law]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A person appointed to decide the winner of a [[contest]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A person able to give an opinion on the value or quality of something: ''a good judge of character''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # In ancient Israel, a leader ruling before the kings, as in the Book of Judges.^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To form an [[opinion]] about something after careful thought.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To hear and decide a case in a court of law; to [[sentence]] or condemn.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To decide the winners of a contest.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To think or suppose.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[judger]]

+ * [[judgeship]]

+ * [[judgeable]]

+ * [[judgeless]]

+ * [[judgelike]]

+ * [[judgingly]]

+ * [[Judges]]

+ * [[judge-made]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[judgment]]

+ * [[judicial]]

+ * [[judicious]]

+ * [[just]]

+ * [[justice]]

+ * [[jury]]

+ * [[injury]]

+ * [[diction]]

+ * [[prejudice]]

+ * [[verdict]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Scotland and Yorkshire ''to judge the day'' was to forecast the day's weather.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}