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Origin and history of judgment

judgment(n.)

mid-13c., jugement, "action of trying at law, trial," also "capacity for making decisions," from Old French jugement "legal judgment; diagnosis; the Last Judgment" (11c.), from jugier "to judge" (see judge (v.)).

From late 13c. as "penalty imposed by a court;" early 14c. as "any authoritative decision, verdict in a court case." From late 14c. in reference to the final trial of the human race in a future state (Judgment Day attested from late 14c.). Also from c. 1300 as "opinion." Sense of "discernment" is first recorded 1530s. By 1610s as "a divine allotment, event regarded as an expression of divine displeasure."

also from mid-13c.

Entries linking to judgment

judge(v.)

c. 1200, iugen, "examine, appraise, make a diagnosis;" c. 1300, "to form an opinion about; inflict penalty upon, punish; try (someone) and pronounce sentence," also intransitive, "make a decision, decide, think, suppose;" from Anglo-French juger, Old French jugier "to judge, pronounce judgment; pass an opinion on" (10c., Modern French juger), from Latin iudicare "to judge, to examine officially; form an opinion upon; pronounce judgment," from iudicem (nominative iudex) "a judge," a compound of ius "right, law" (see just (adj.)) + root of dicere "to say" (from PIE root *deik- "to show," also "pronounce solemnly").

Related: Judged; judging. Spelling with -dg- emerged mid-15c. The Old English word was deman (see doom (n.)). The Latin word also is the source of Spanish juzgar, Italian giudicare.

acknowledgment(n.)

alternative spelling of acknowledgement. OED deems it "a spelling more in accordance with Eng[lish] values of letters." Compare judgment.

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More to explore

sagacity
"state or character of being keenly perceptive; acuteness of mental discernment," c. 1500, from French sagacité, from Latin sagacitatem (nominative sagacitas) "keenness of perception, quality of being acute," from sagax (genitive sagacis) "of quick perception, acute," related to
discernment
1580s, "keenness of intellectual perception, insight, acuteness of judgment;" see discern + -ment. From 1680s as "act of perceiving by the intellect." Penetration, or insight, goes to the heart of a subject, reads the inmost character, etc. Discrimination marks the differences i
mind
"that which feels, wills, and thinks; the intellect," late 12c., mynd, from Old English gemynd "memory, remembrance; state of being remembered; thought, purpose; conscious mind, intellect, intention," Proto-Germanic *ga-mundiz (source also of Gothic muns "thought," munan "to thin
mistake
"an error in action, opinion, or judgment," 1630s, from mistake (v.). The earlier noun was mistaking (c. 1300)....An error is a wandering from truth, primarily in impression, judgment, or calculation and, by extension of the idea, in conduct...A mistake is a false judgment or choice; it does not, as error sometimes does, imply moral obliquity, the defect being placed...
gnomic
didactic," from Greek gnōmikos, from gnōmē "a means of knowing, a mark, token; the mind (as the organ of knowing), thought, judgment..., intelligence; (one's) mind, will, purpose; a judgment, opinion; maxim, the opinion of wise men," from root of gignōskein...
arbitration
late 14c., arbitracioun, "faculty of making a choice or decision, judgment, discretion;" early 15c., "authority or responsibility...for deciding a dispute," from Old French arbitracion and directly from Latin arbitrationem (nominative arbitratio) "judgment...
doom
Middle English doome, from Old English dom "a law, statute, decree; administration of justice, judgment; justice, equity,...righteousness," from Proto-Germanic *domaz (source also of Old Saxon and Old Frisian dom, Old Norse domr, Old High German tuom "judgment...fate, ruin, destruction" begins early 14c. and is general after c. 1600, from doomsday and the finality of the Christian Judgment...
opinion
early 14c., opinioun, "a judgment formed or a conclusion reached, especially one based on evidence that does not produce knowledge or certainty," from Old French opinion "opinion, view, judgements founded upon probabilities" (12c.), from Latin opinionem (nominative opinio) "opini
estimation
late 14c., "action of appraising; manner of judging; opinion," from Old French estimacion "evaluation, value; calculation, planning," from Latin aestimationem (nominative aestimatio) "a valuation," from past participle stem of aestimare "to value" (see esteem (v.)). Meaning "appr
determination
mid-14c., determinacioun, "decision, sentence in a suit at law, definite or authoritative judicial settlement," from Old French déterminacion "determination, settlement, definition" (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin determinationem (nominative determinatio) "conclusion, bou

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