Word of the Day

: December 6, 2008

jurisprudence

noun joor-us-PROO-dunss

What It Means

1 : the science or philosophy of law

2 a : a system or body of law

b : the course of court decisions

3 : a department of law

jurisprudence in Context

A basic premise of American jurisprudence is that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Did You Know?

"For a farewell to our jurisprudent, I wish unto him the gladsome light of jurisprudence. . . ." With this valedictory to English jurist Sir Thomas Littleton, another jurist, Sir Edward Coke, welcomed two new words into English. In 1628, his "jurisprudence" meant "knowledge of or skill in law," a now archaic sense that reflects the literal meaning of the word. "Jurisprudence" goes back to Latin "prudentia juris" (literally "skill in law"), from which was derived the Late Latin formation "jurisprudentia," and subsequently our word. The noun "jurisprudent" means "one skilled in law" -- in other words, "a jurist." There's also "jurisprude," a 20th-century back- formation created from "jurisprudence" with influence from "prude." It means "one who makes ostentatious show of jurisprudential learning."