Justify

How to spell justify

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce justify

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does justify mean?

1. verbTo show or prove that something is right, reasonable, or defensible.
2. verbTo adjust spacing in text so the lines align evenly along both margins.

Justify in a sentence

• The manager struggled to justify the sudden rise in fees.

• Select the paragraph and justify it so both edges line up.

• Nothing could justify leaving the children alone overnight.

• Newspapers usually justify their columns for a tidy look.

Where does justify come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This verb comes from the Latin iustificare, which was built from iustus, meaning 'right', 'lawful', or 'fair', and the verb-forming element facere, meaning 'to make' or 'to do'; together they carried the literal sense of 'to make right' or 'to declare righteous'. It entered English in the 1300s through Old French justifier, at first in a strongly religious and legal setting, describing the act of being cleared of guilt or accounted righteous. From there the meaning broadened into the everyday idea of showing that something is reasonable or defensible. The same iustus root sits inside the familiar words 'just', 'justice', and 'adjust', which is a useful reminder that the spelling keeps the plain 'just' at its front before the -ify ending. The later printing sense, lining text up to an even margin, grew from the older idea of setting type 'right' on the page.

How the word is built

• just- (from Latin iustus: right, lawful)
• -ify (to make or render)