appellate

adjective

ap·​pel·​late ə-ˈpe-lət 

: of, relating to, or recognizing appeals

specifically : having the power to review the judgment of another tribunal

an appellate court

Examples of appellate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

However, once the case had been assigned to the panel of appellate judges who would hear the merits of the appeal (known as the merits panel or sometimes decision panel), that new panel decided to leave the nationwide preliminary injunction in place. —Jay Adkisson, Forbes, 15 Jan. 2025

The Coast News reported that in October 2024, a California appellate judge upheld Janks’ conviction. —Liam Quinn, People.com, 12 Jan. 2025

In a decision issued today, the appellate judges ruled that Smartmatic had met the threshold for moving forward with its claims that Fox Corp. should also be defendants in the lawsuit, not just the news network. —Ted Johnson, Deadline, 9 Jan. 2025

In December, a panel of three appellate judges, two appointed by Republicans and one by a Democrat, unanimously upheld the law and rejected the First Amendment speech claims. —CBS News, 9 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin appellātus, past participle of appellāre "to appeal against a judgment," going back to Latin, "to speak to, address, apply to for support, refer to a higher authority" — more at appeal entry 2

First Known Use

1765, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

appellate

adjective

ap·​pel·​late ə-ˈpel-ət 

: having the power to review the decisions of a lower court

an appellate court

Legal Definition

appellate

adjective

ap·​pel·​late ə-ˈpe-lət 

: of or relating to appeals or the power to hear appeals

the appellate process

an appellate court