English
judge
see also: Judge
Pronunciation Etymology 1

From Middle English juge, jugge, from Old French juge, from Latin iūdex.

Noun

judge (plural judges)

  1. A public official whose duty it is to administer the law, especially by presiding over trials and rendering judgments; a justice.
    • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Judicature”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC ↗:
      The parts of a judge in hearing are four: to direct the evidence; to moderate length, repetition, or impertinency of speech; to recapitulate, select, and collate the material points of that which hath been said; and to give the rule or sentence.
  2. A person who decides the fate of someone or something that has been called into question.
  3. A person officiating at a sports event, a contest, or similar; referee.
    At a boxing match, the decision of the judges is final.
  4. A person who evaluates something or forms an opinion.
    She is a good judge of wine.
    They say he is a poor judge of character considering all the unreliable friends he has made.
  5. (historical, biblical) A shophet, a temporary leader appointed in times of crisis in ancient Israel.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Etymology 2

From Middle English jugen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman juger, from Old French jugier, from Latin iūdicō.

Mostly displaced native deem.

Verb

judge (judges, present participle judging; simple past and past participle judged)

  1. (transitive) To sit in judgment on; to pass sentence on (a person or matter).
    A higher power will judge you after you are dead.
  2. (intransitive) To sit in judgment, to act as judge.
    Justices in this country judge without appeal.
  3. (transitive) To judicially rule or determine.
  4. (transitive, obsolete) To sentence to punishment, to judicially condemn.
    He was judged to die for his crimes.
  5. (transitive, obsolete) To award judicially; to adjudge.
  6. (transitive) To form an opinion on; to appraise.
    I judge a man’s character by the cut of his suit.
    • c. 1921, Michael Collins (Irish leader), after the Anglo-Irish Treaty:
      Let us be judged for what we attempted rather than what we achieved.
  7. (transitive, obsolete) To constitute a fitting appraisal or criterion of; to provide a basis for forming an opinion on.
    • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC ↗; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii ↗:
      Noble and milde this Perſean ſeemes to be,
      If outward habit Iudge the inward man.
  8. (intransitive) To arbitrate; to pass opinion on something, especially to settle a dispute etc.
    We cannot both be right: you must judge between us.
  9. (transitive) To have as an opinion; to consider, suppose.
    I judge it safe to leave the house once again.
  10. (ambitransitive) To form an opinion; to infer.
    I judge from the sky that it might rain later.
    • 1884 December 9, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer's Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC ↗:
      THE sun was up so high when I waked that I judged it was after eight o'clock.
  11. (ambitransitive) To criticize or label another person or thing; to be judgmental toward.
    • 1993, Aerosmith, Livin' on the Edge:
      There's something wrong with the world today; the light bulb's getting dim.
      There's meltdown in the sky.
      If you can judge a wise man by the color of his skin,
      Mister, you're a better man than I
  12. (ambitransitive) To govern as biblical judges or shophet (over some jurisdiction).
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Judges 10:3 ↗:
      And after him aroſe Iair a Gileadite, and iudged Iſrael twentie and two yeeres.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Judges 12:11 ↗:
      And after him, Elon, a Zebulonite iudged Israel, and he iudged Israel ten yeeres.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations
Judge
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /d͡ʒʌd͡ʒ/
Proper noun
  1. Surname.
  2. (Christianity) epithet of God or Jesus in his role as supreme arbiter
    • 1763, Charles Wesley, “And am I Born to Die?” (Hymn 59) in Hymns for Children, and Others of Riper Years:
      Wak’d by the trumpet’s sound,
      I from my grave must rise,
      And see the Judge with glory crown’d,
      And see the flaming skies.
  3. An unincorporated community in Olmsted County, Minnesota, named after Edward Judge.
  4. An unincorporated community in Osage County, Missouri, named for a local judge who owned the town site.


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