Etymology : Middle English juggen, from Old French jugier, from Latin judicare, from judic-, judex judge, from jus right, law + dicere to decide, say; more at JUST, DICTION
Pronunciation : j&j
Function : verb
Date : 13th century
1. one who presides over court trials; one who chooses the winner in a contest, arbiter; expert, critic. preside over a court trial and make decisions; rule, determine; criticize; assess; act as a judge. judge\judge\ , n. [oe. juge, of. & f. juge, fr. of. jugier, f. juger, to judge. see:
judge, v. i.].
2. (law) a public officer who is invested with authority to hear and determine litigated causes, and to administer justice between parties in courts held for that purpose. 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.
3. one who has skill, knowledge, or experience, sufficient to decide on the merits of a question, or on the quality or value of anything; one who discerns properties or relations with skill and readiness; a connoisseur; an expert; a critic. a man who is no judge of law may be a good judge of poetry, or eloquence, or of the merits of a painting.
4. a person appointed to decide in a trial of skill, speed, etc., between two or more parties; an umpire; as, a judge in a horse race.
5. (jewish hist.) one of supreme magistrates, with both civil and military powers, who governed israel for more than four hundred years.
6. pl. the title of the seventh book of the old testament; the book of judges.judge advocate (mil. & nav.), a person appointed to act as prosecutor at a court-martial; he acts as the representative of the government, as the responsible adviser of the court, and also, to a certain extent, as counsel for the accused, when he has no other counsel.
7. A public officer who is invested with authority to hear and determine litigated causes, and to administer justice between parties in courts held for that purpose.
8. One who has skill, knowledge, or experience, sufficient to decide on the merits of a question, or on the quality or value of anything; one who discerns properties or relations with skill and readiness; a connoisseur; an expert; a critic.
9. A person appointed to decide in a trial of skill, speed, etc., between two or more parties; an umpire; as, a judge in a horse race.
10. One of the supreme magistrates, with both civil and military powers, who governed Israel for more than four hundred years.
11. The title of the seventh book of the Old Testament; the Book of Judges.
12. To hear and determine, as in causes on trial; to decide as a judge; to give judgment; to pass sentence.
13. To assume the right to pass judgment on another; to sit in judgment or commendation; to criticise or pass adverse judgment upon others.
14. See Judge, v. t., 3.
15. To compare facts or ideas, and perceive their relations and attributes, and thus distinguish truth from falsehood; to determine; to discern; to distinguish; to form an opinion about.
16. To hear and determine by authority, as a case before a court, or a controversy between two parties.
17. To examine and pass sentence on; to try; to doom.
18. To arrogate judicial authority over; to sit in judgment upon; to be censorious toward.
19. To determine upon or deliberation; to esteem; to think; to reckon.
20. To exercise the functions of a magistrate over; to govern. a public official authorized to decide questions bought before a court of justice form an opinion of or pass judgment on; "I cannot judge some works of modern art" determine the result of put on trial or hear a case and sit as the judge at the trial of; "The football star was tried for the murder of his wife"; "The judge tried both father and son in separate trials".
21. 1. A judge is the person in a court of law who decides how the law should be applied, for example how criminals should be punished. The judge adjourned the hearing until next Tuesday Judge Mr Justice Schiemann jailed him for life.
22. A judge is a person who decides who will be the winner of a competition. A panel of judges is now selecting the finalists.
23. If you judge something such as a competition, you decide who or what is the winner. Colin Mitchell will judge the entries each week A grade B judge could only be allowed to judge alongside a qualified grade A judge. + judging judg·ing The judging was difficult as always.
24. If you judge something or someone, you form an opinion about them after you have examined the evidence or thought carefully about them. It will take a few more years to judge the impact of these ideas I am ready to judge any book on its merits It's for other people to judge how much I have improved The UN withdrew its relief personnel because it judged the situation too dangerous I judged it to be one of the worst programmes ever screened The doctor judged that the man's health had, up to the time of the wound, been good.
25. If you judge something, you guess its amount, size, or value or you guess what it is. It is important to judge the weight of your washing load correctly I judged him to be about forty Though the shoreline could be dimly seen, it was impossible to judge how far away it was = estimate.
26. If someone is a good judge of something, they understand it and can make sensible decisions about it. If someone is a bad judge of something, they cannot do this. I'm a pretty good judge of character.
27. You use judging by, judging from, or to judge from to introduce the reasons why you believe or think something. Judging by the opinion polls, he seems to be succeeding Judging from the way he laughed as he told it, it was meant to be humorous.
28. If you say that something is true as far as you can judge or so far as you can judge, you are assuming that it is true, although you do not know all the facts about it. The book, so far as I can judge, is remarkably accurate. Public official vested with the authority to hear, determine, and preside over legal matters brought in court. In jury cases, the judge presides over the selection of the panel and instructs it concerning pertinent law. The judge may also rule on motions made before or during a trial. In the U.S., judges are elected or appointed. Most federal judges are appointed for life by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. The highest-ranking judge in the U.S. legal system is the chief justice of the Supreme Court. See also judgment, judiciary, magistrate's court, Missouri Plan.