Judicial

How to spell judicial

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce judicial

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does judicial mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to courts of law, judges, or the administration of justice.

Judicial in a sentence

• The judicial system reviews appeals before any final ruling.

• Reporters waited for the judicial inquiry to publish its findings.

Where does judicial come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin judicialis, meaning 'belonging to a court of law', which was built on judicium, the noun for 'judgement' or 'a trial'. That in turn rests on judex, the Roman word for a judge, which combines jus 'law' or 'right' with the verb dicere 'to say' or 'to declare'; a judge was literally the one who 'declares the law'. English took the word in during the late 1300s, partly through Old French, in legal and church contexts. The same jus root sits inside familiar relatives such as 'justice', 'just' and 'jury', while dicere gave us 'dictate' and 'verdict'. The spelling trap is the soft 'ci' in the middle, pronounced like 'sh', which tempts writers toward a 'ti' or 'di' instead.

How the word is built

• judic- (from Latin judex/judic-: judge)
• -ial (adjective suffix)