Word of the Day

: January 24, 2019

adjudicate

verb uh-JOO-dih-kayt

What It Means

1 : to make an official decision about who is right in (a dispute) : to settle judicially

2 : to act as judge

adjudicate in Context

"… Nichols said in addition to the nine dogs brought to the shelter, it is housing 31 dogs that were confiscated in animal cruelty or neglect cases. She said the shelter has to board the dogs, feed them and care for them until the cases are adjudicated." — Russ Coreyemp, The Times Daily (Florence, Alabama), 16 Dec. 2018

"To qualify as a couture house, which is an official designation like champagne, a brand must maintain an atelier of a certain number of artisans full time and produce a specific number of garments twice a year for a show. There are only a very few that can fulfill the requirements…. A lot have dropped out over the years …, and the governing organization that adjudicates this has relaxed some of its rules to admit younger, less resourced and guest designers…." — Vanessa Friedman, The New York Times, 17 Dec. 2018

Did You Know?

Adjudicate is one of several terms that give testimony to the influence of jus, the Latin word for "law," on our legal language. Adjudicate is from the Latin verb adjudicare, from judicare, meaning "to judge," which, in turn, traces to the Latin noun judex, meaning "judge." English has other judex words, such as judgment, judicial, judiciary, and prejudice. If we admit further evidence, we discover that the root of judex is jus. What's the verdict? Latin "law" words frequently preside in English-speaking courtrooms. In addition to the judex words, jury, justice, injury, and perjury are all ultimately from Latin jus.