Judgment

How to spell judgment

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce judgment

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does judgment mean?

1. nounThe ability to make considered decisions or form sensible opinions.
2. nounA formal decision or ruling handed down by a court.

Judgment in a sentence

• Hiring her was a sound business judgment.

• The court entered judgment in favour of the plaintiff.

• Good judgment comes from years of practical experience.

• The bank obtained a judgment against the unpaid borrower.

Where does judgment come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word travelled into English from Old French jugement, which came from the verb jugier, meaning 'to judge', itself descended from the Latin iudicare, 'to decide or to try a case'. That Latin verb was built from ius, meaning 'law or right', and dicere, meaning 'to say or pronounce', so a judgment was literally the speaking of the law over a matter. English adopted the word in the 1200s, first in the strict legal sense of a court's decision and later widening to mean the everyday faculty of forming sensible opinions. The dropped 'e' that makes 'judgment' look mildly wrong is no accident: the spelling without the middle 'e' became the preferred legal form and the standard American form, even though the verb 'judge' clearly keeps its 'e'. The same iudicare root still sits inside 'judicial', 'prejudice', and 'adjudicate', all close relatives that share the idea of pronouncing on what is right.

How the word is built

• judg- (from judge, to decide)
• -ment (noun suffix, the result or act of)

British and American spelling

Judgment is the American spelling. British English spells it judgement.