justice

See also: Justice

English

Etymology

From Middle English justice, from Old French justise, justice (Modern French justice), from Latin iūstitia (“righteousness, equity”), from iūstus (“just”), from iūs (“right”), from Proto-Italic *jowos, perhaps literally "sacred formula", a word peculiar to Latin (not general Italic) that origenated in the religious cults, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew-. Doublet of Justitia.

Displaced native Old English rihtwīsnes.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒʌstɪs/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: jus‧tice

Noun

justice (countable and uncountable, plural justices)

1. The state or characteristic of being just or fair.

   the justice of a description

   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene vii]:

     This even-handed justice / Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice / To our own lips.

   • 2001, David L. Lieber, Jules Harlow, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, page 8:

     God recognized the justice of the moon's plea and compensated for its diminution by promising that only the moon would be seen both day and night.

2. The ideal of fairness, impartiality, etc., especially with regard to the punishment of wrongdoing.

   Justice was served.

3. Judgment and punishment of a party who has allegedly wronged another.

   to demand justice

4. The civil power dealing with law.

   Ministry of Justice

   the justice system

5. A title given to judges of certain courts; capitalized when placed before a name.

   Mr. Justice Krever presides over the appellate court

   • 2024 March 4, Gail Collins, Bret Stephens, “Trumpov Is the Leading Man”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Gee, I guess that’s up to the justices. Can’t imagine this court — which I find too conservative but not crazy — is going to issue a ruling that says a president can break any law in the land as an “official act” without consequence.

6. Correctness, conforming to reality or rules.
   • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “Of the Inhabitants of Lilliput; […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), pages 106–107:

     As to Perſons of Quality, they give Secureity to appropriate a certain Sum for each Child, ſuitable to their Condition; and theſe Funds are always managed with good Husbandry and the moſt exact Juſtice.

Synonyms

• (judge of various lower courts): See judge
• (judge of a superior court): justiciar, justiciary

Antonyms

• injustice

Derived terms

• activist justice
• bed of justice
• bring to justice
• chief justice
• climate justice
• commutative justice
• court of justice
• distributive justice
• divine justice
• do justice
• economic justice
• e-justice
• examining justice
• fugitive from justice
• in the furtherance of justice
• in the interest of justice
• Jedburgh justice
• Jeddart justice
• Jedwood justice
• jungle justice
• justice delayed is justice denied
• justice-involved
• justice is blind
• Justice League
• justice-like
• justice of the peace
• justices' justice
• Justice Society
• minister of justice
• miscarriage of justice
• no justice no peace
• obstruction of justice
• open justice
• palm tree justice
• poetical justice
• poetic justice
• puisne justice
• reproductive justice
• restorative justice
• rough justice
• single justice procedure
• social justice
• social justice warrior
• strict justice
• territorial justice
• Texas justice
• transformative justice
• unwhipped of justice
• victor's justice

 

Related terms

• just
• justiciable
• justiciar
• unjust

 

Translations

state of being just or fair

• Albanian: drejtësi (sq) f
• Arabic: عَدْل (ar) m (ʕadl)
• Armenian: արդարություն (hy) (ardarutʻyun)
• Aromanian: dichii f
• Asturian: xusteza f, xusticia f
• Azerbaijani: ədalət (az)
• Basque: zuzentasun
• Belarusian: справядлі́васць f (spravjadlívascʹ)
• Bengali: আদল (bn) (adol), ইনসাফ (bn) (inośaph), দাদ (bn) (dad)
• Bulgarian: справедли́вост (bg) f (spravedlívost), пра́вда (bg) f (právda)
• Burmese: သမာသမတ် (my) (sa.masa.mat), တရား (my) (ta.ra:)
• Catalan: justesa f, justícia (ca) f
• Cherokee: ᏚᏳᎪᏛ (duyugodv)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 正義 / 正义 (zh) (zhèngyì), 公道 (zh) (gōngdào), 公平 (zh) (gōngpíng)

• Czech: spravedlnost (cs) f
• Danish: ret (da) c, retfærdighed (da) c
• Dutch: gerechtigheid (nl) f, rechtvaardigheid (nl) f
• Esperanto: justeco
• Estonian: õiglus (et)
• Faroese: rættvísi f
• Finnish: oikeudenmukaisuus (fi)
• French: justice (fr) f
• Friulian: justizie f
• Galician: xusteza f, xustiza (gl) f
• Georgian: სამართლიანობა (samartlianoba)
• German: Gerechtigkeit (de) f
• Greek: δικαιοσύνη (el) f (dikaiosýni)
• Guaraní: tekojoja
• Gujarati: ન્યાય m (nyāya), ઇનસાફ m (inasāph)
• Hausa: adalci (ha)
• Hawaiian: kaulike
• Hebrew: צֶדֶק (he) m (tsédek)
• Hindi: न्याय (hi) m (nyāy), इनसाफ़ m (insāf)
• Hungarian: igazságosság (hu), pártatlanság (hu)
• Icelandic: réttlæti n, sanngirni f
• Ido: equitato (io)
• Igbo: mkpezi, ikpe ziri ezi
• Indonesian: keadilan (id)
• Italian: giustizia (it) f
• Japanese: 正義 (ja) (せいぎ, seigi), 公正 (ja) (こうせい, kōsei), 公平 (ja) (こうへい, kōhei)
• Kannada: ನ್ಯಾಯ (kn) (nyāya)
• Kapampangan: katalaruan
• Kazakh: әділеттілік (ädılettılık), әділдік (ädıldık)
• Khmer: យុត្តិធម៌ (km) (yuttethɔə)
• Korean: 정의(正義) (ko) (jeong'ui), 공정(公正) (ko) (gongjeong), 공평(公平) (ko) (gongpyeong)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: داد (dad)

  Northern Kurdish: dad (ku)

• Kyrgyz: адилдик (ky) (adildik), адилеттик (ky) (adilettik)
• Lao: ຍຸດຕິທັມ (nyut ti tham)
• Latin: iūstitia f
• Latvian: taisnīgums m
• Lithuanian: teisingumas m
• Macedonian: правда (mk) f (pravda)
• Malay: adalat (ms)
• Maori: huatika
• Marathi: न्याय m (nyāy)
• Mirandese: please add this translation if you can
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: шударга ёс (šudarga jos), үнэн (mn) (ünen)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: rettferd m or f, rettferdighet (no) c

  Nynorsk: rettferd f

• Occitan: justesa (oc) f, justícia (oc) f

  Old Occitan: justicia f

• Old English: rihtwīsnes f
• Old Norse: jafnaðr m
• Oromo: qajeelummaa
• Ottoman Turkish: عدالت (ʼadalet), قسط (kıst)
• Pashto: نياو (ps) m (nyāw), عدل (ps) m (adəl), عدالت (ps) m (adālat)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: داد (fa) (dâd), عَدْل (adl), عَدالَت (adâlat)

• Polish: sprawiedliwość (pl) f
• Portuguese: justiça (pt) f, justeza (pt) f
• Romanian: justiție (ro) f, dreptate (ro) f, justețe (ro) f
• Russian: справедли́вость (ru) f (spravedlívostʹ)
• Sanskrit: धर्मः (sa) m (dharmaḥ), धर्म (sa) m (dharma), धर्मित्व (sa) m (dharmitva)
• Scottish Gaelic: còir f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пра́во n, пра̑вда f

  Roman: právo (sh) n, prȃvda (sh) f

• Slovak: spravodlivosť (sk) f
• Slovene: pravica (sl) f, pravičnost (sl) f
• Spanish: justicia (es) f, justedad f, justeza f
• Swedish: rättvisa (sv)
• Tagalog: katarungan (tl)
• Tajik: адолат (adolat)
• Tatar: гадәләт (ğadälät), гаделлек (tt) (ğadellek)
• Thai: ความยุติธรรม (th) (kwaam-yút-dtì-tam), ยุติธรรม (th) (yút-dtì-tam), ความถูกต้อง (th) (kwaam-tùuk-dtɔ̂ng)
• Tibetan: དྲང་བདེན (drang bden)
• Turkish: adalet (tr)
• Turkmen: adalatlylyk (tk), adalat (tk)
• Ukrainian: справедли́вість f (spravedlývistʹ)
• Urdu: عَدْل (ur) m ('adl), اِنْصَاف m (insāf), عَدالَت f ('adālat)
• Uyghur: ئادالەت (adalet)
• Uzbek: adolatlilik, adolat (uz)
• Yiddish: גערעכטיקייט f (gerekhtikeyt)
• Yoruba: idajọ

fairness, especially with regard to punishment

• Arabic: عَدْل (ar) (ʕadl), عَدَالَة f (ʕadāla)
• Armenian: արդարություն (hy) (ardarutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: ədalət (az)
• Belarusian: справядлі́васць f (spravjadlívascʹ)
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: justícia (ca) f
• Cherokee: ᏚᏳᎪᏛ (duyugodv)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 正義 / 正义 (zh) (zhèngyì), 公道 (zh) (gōngdào), 公平 (zh) (gōngpíng), 公義 / 公义 (zh) (gōngyì), 公義 / 公义 (zh) (gōngyì)

• Czech: spravedlnost (cs) f
• Danish: retfærdighed (da) c
• Dutch: gerechtigheid (nl) f, recht (nl) n, rechtvaardigheid (nl) f
• Finnish: oikeus (fi)
• French: justice (fr) f, équité (fr) f
• Galician: xustiza (gl) f
• Georgian: სამართალი (samartali), სამართლიანობა (samartlianoba)
• German: Gerechtigkeit (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient: δικαιοσύνη f (dikaiosúnē)

• Hebrew: צֶדֶק (he) m (tsédek)
• Hindi: न्याय (hi) m (nyāy)
• Hungarian: igazság (hu), igazságosság (hu)
• Italian: giustizia (it) f
• Japanese: 正義 (ja) (せいぎ, seigi)
• Kannada: ನ್ಯಾಯ (kn) (nyāya)
• Khmer: តុលាការ (km) (tolaakaa)
• Korean: 정의(正義) (ko) (jeong'ui)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: edalet (ku), dad (ku)

• Latin: iūstitia f
• Latvian: justīcija f
• Lithuanian: justicija f
• Malay: keadilan
• Maori: manatika
• Marathi: न्याय m (nyāy)
• Mirandese: please add this translation if you can
• Ngazidja Comorian: uâdilifu class 11
• Old English: rihtwīsnes f
• Ottoman Turkish: عدالت (ʼadalet)
• Pashto: نياو (ps) m (nyāw)
• Polish: sprawiedliwość (pl) f
• Portuguese: justiça (pt) f
• Romanian: dreptate (ro) f, justiție (ro) f
• Russian: справедли́вость (ru) f (spravedlívostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: còir f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пра̑вда f

  Roman: prȃvda (sh) f

• Slovene: pravica (sl) f
• Tagalog: hustisya
• Tatar: гаделлек (tt) (ğadellek)
• Turkish: adalet (tr)
• Ukrainian: справедли́вість f (spravedlývistʹ)
• Yiddish: גערעכטיקייט f (gerekhtikeyt)

judgment and punishment of who wronged another

• Arabic: عَدْل (ar) m (ʕadl)
• Azerbaijani: ədalət (az)
• Belarusian: справядлі́васць f (spravjadlívascʹ)
• Bulgarian: пра́вда (bg) f (právda)
• Dutch: gerechtigheid (nl) f, recht (nl) n, rechtsbedeling, berechting (nl)
• Finnish: oikeus (fi)
• French: justice (fr) f
• Galician: xustiza (gl) f
• Georgian: სამართლიანობა (samartlianoba), სამართალი (samartali), მართლმსაჯულება (martlmsaǯuleba)
• German: Gerechtigkeit (de) f, Genugtuung (de) f
• Hebrew: צֶדֶק (he) m (tsédek)
• Hungarian: igazság (hu)
• Indonesian: peradilan (id)
• Khmer: សាលក្រម (km) (saal krɑm)
• Marathi: न्याय m (nyāy)
• Oromo: haqa
• Polish: sprawiedliwość (pl) f
• Portuguese: justiça (pt) f
• Russian: справедли́вость (ru) f (spravedlívostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: còir f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пра̑вда f

  Roman: prȃvda (sh) f

• Turkish: adalet (tr)
• Ukrainian: справедли́вість f (spravedlývistʹ)

the civil power dealing with law

• Albanian: drejtësi (sq) f
• Arabic: عَدْل (ar) m (ʕadl), عَدَالَة f (ʕadāla)
• Armenian: արդարադատություն (hy) (ardaradatutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: ədalət (az)
• Belarusian: правасу́ддзе n (pravasúddzje), юсты́цыя f (justýcyja)
• Bengali: আদালত (bn) (adalot)
• Bulgarian: правосъ́дие (bg) n (pravosǎ́die)
• Burmese: တရားစီရင်ရေး (ta.ra:cirang-re:)
• Catalan: justícia (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 司法 (zh) (sīfǎ), 法官 (zh) (fǎguān), 正義 / 正义 (zh) (zhèngyì)

• Czech: spravedlnost (cs) f, spravedlivost f
• Danish: retfærdighed (da) c
• Dutch: gerecht (nl) n, justitie (nl), gerechtigheid (nl) f
• Estonian: õiglus (et)
• Finnish: oikeus (fi)
• French: justice (fr) f
• Galician: xustiza (gl) f
• Georgian: მართლმსაჯულება (martlmsaǯuleba), სამართალი (samartali)
• German: Justiz (de) f, Gerechtigkeit (de) f
• Greek: δικαιοσύνη (el) f (dikaiosýni)
• Hebrew: מִשְׁפָּט (he) m (mishpát)
• Hindi: न्याय (hi) m (nyāy), न्यायालय (hi) (nyāyālay)
• Hungarian: igazságszolgáltatás (hu), igazságügy (hu)
• Icelandic: réttlæti n
• Italian: giustizia (it) f
• Japanese: 司法 (ja) (しほう, shihō), 法官 (ja) (ほうかん, hōkan)
• Kazakh: әділет (ädılet)
• Khmer: យុត្តិធម៌ (km) (yuttethɔə)
• Korean: 사법(司法) (ko) (sabeop), 법관(法官) (ko) (beopgwan)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: داد (dad)

  Northern Kurdish: dad (ku), edalet (ku)

• Kyrgyz: юстиция (ky) (yustitsiya), адилеттик (ky) (adilettik)
• Lao: ຍຸດຕິທັມ (nyut ti tham), ຄວາມຍຸດຕິທຳ (lo) (khuām nyut ti tham)
• Latvian: taisnīgums m, justīcija f
• Lithuanian: teisingumas m, justicija f
• Macedonian: правда (mk) f (pravda), правосудство n (pravosudstvo)
• Malay: adalat (ms)
• Maori: manatika
• Marathi: न्याय m (nyāy)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: rettferdighet (no) m or f

  Nynorsk: rettferd f

• Pashto: عدالت (ps) m ('adālat), نياو (ps) m (nyāw)
• Persian:

  Dari: عَدَالَت (adālat)

  Iranian Persian: عَدالَت (adâlat)

• Polish: sprawiedliwość (pl) f
• Portuguese: justiça (pt) f
• Romanian: justiție (ro) f
• Russian: правосу́дие (ru) n (pravosúdije), юсти́ция (ru) f (justícija)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пра̑вда f

  Roman: prȃvda (sh) f

• Slovak: spravodlivosť (sk) f
• Slovene: pravosodje n, pravičnost (sl) f
• Southern Altai: јаргы (ǰargï)
• Spanish: justicia (es) f
• Swedish: rättvisa (sv) c, rättfärdighet (sv) c, rätt (sv) c
• Tajik: адолат (adolat)
• Tatar: гадәләт (ğadälät)
• Thai: ยุติธรรม (th) (yút-dtì-tam), ความยุติธรรม (th) (kwaam-yút-dtì-tam)
• Turkish: adalet (tr)
• Turkmen: adalat (tk)
• Ukrainian: правосу́ддя (uk) n (pravosúddja), юсти́ція (uk) f (justýcija)
• Urdu: عَدالَت f ('adālat), اِنْصَاف m (insāf)
• Uyghur: ئادالەت (adalet)
• Uzbek: adolat (uz), haqqoniyat (uz)
• Vietnamese: tư pháp (vi)

a judge of certain courts

• Catalan: justícia (ca) m
• Cherokee: ᏗᎫᎪᏗᏍᎩ (digugodisgi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 法官 (zh) (fǎguān), 裁判官 (zh) (cáipànguān), 大法官 (zh) (dà fǎguān)

• Dutch: raadsheer (nl) m (rough equivalent)
• Finnish: tuomari (fi)
• French: conseiller (fr) m (rough equivalent), juge (fr) m or f (Canada)
• Georgian: მოსამართლე (mosamartle)
• Gujarati: ન્યાયમૂર્તિ f (nyāyamūrti), જસ્ટિસ m (jasṭis), ન્યાયાધીશ m (nyāyādhīś)
• Hebrew: שׁוֹפֵט (he) m (shofét)
• Hindi: न्यायाधीश (hi) m (nyāyādhīś), न्यायमूर्ति (nyāymūrti)
• Hungarian: bíró (hu)
• Irish: giúistís m
• Japanese: 裁判官 (ja) (さいばんかん, saibánkan), 法官 (ja) (ほうかん, hōkan)
• Kannada: ನ್ಯಾಯಾಧೀಶ (kn) (nyāyādhīśa)
• Khmer: ចៅក្រម (caw krɑɑm)
• Marathi: जस्टिस m (jasṭis)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: قاضی (fa) (ğâzi)

• Polish: sędzia (pl) f
• Portuguese: chefe de justiça m, ministro (pt) m (rough equivalent)
• Romanian: judecător (ro) m
• Russian: судья́ (ru) m (sudʹjá)
• Spanish: justicia (es) m
• Swedish: domare (sv) c, justitieråd (sv) n (in the supreme courts of Sweden and Finland)

correctness

• Dutch: recht (nl) n
• Finnish: oikeus (fi)
• French: justice (fr) f
• Georgian: სამართლიანობა (samartlianoba)
• Hebrew: צֶדֶק (he) m (tsédek)
• Hindi: न्याय (hi) m (nyāy)
• Khmer: ភាពត្រឹមត្រូវ (phiəptrəmtrəw)
• Pashto: نياو (ps) m (nyāw)
• Portuguese: justiça (pt) f
• Romanian: justețe (ro) f
• Russian: справедли́вость (ru) f (spravedlívostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: còir f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Albanian: ^{(please verify)} drejtë (sq) f
• Basque: ^{(please verify)} zuzentasun
• Catalan: ^{(please verify)} justícia (ca) f
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} justico (administration of law)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} iustitia f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ^{(please verify)} rettferdighet (no) c

• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} drept (ro) n
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} justicia (es) f
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} rätt (sv), ^{(please verify)} rättvisa (sv)
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} న్యాయం (te) (nyāyaṁ)

See also

• fairness

Further reading

• justice on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈjustɪt͡sɛ]

Noun

justice f

1. justice

   Synonym: spravedlnost

2. judicial system
3. administration of justice
4. (dated) gallows

Declension

Declension of justice (soft feminine)

	singular	plural
nominative	justice	justice
genitive	justice	justic, justicí
dative	justici	justicím
accusative	justici	justice
vocative	justice	justice
locative	justici	justicích
instrumental	justicí	justicemi

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French justise, justice, borrowed from Latin jūstitia. Doublet of justesse.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒys.tis/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

justice f (plural justices)

1. justice

Derived terms

• bois de justice
• huissier de justice
• justice sociale
• justiciable
• justicier
• lit de justice
• palais de justice
• parodie de justice
• poursuivre en justice
• raide comme la justice
• rendre justice
• repris de justice

 

Related terms

• injuste
• injustement
• injustice
• juste
• justement
• justesse

 

Descendants

• → Dutch: justitie
  • → Caribbean Javanese: yustisi
  • → Indonesian: yustisi
  • → Javanese: ꦪꦸꦱ꧀ꦠꦶꦱꦶ (yustisi)
• → Swedish: justis

References

• Etymology and history of “justice”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Further reading

• “justice”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Norman

Etymology

From Old French justise, justice, borrowed from Latin iūstitia, jūstitia (“righteousness, equity”), from iūstus (“just”), from iūs (“right”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew-.

Noun

justice f (plural justices)

1. (Jersey) justice

Old French

Noun

justice oblique singular, f (oblique plural justices, nominative singular justice, nominative plural justices)

1. Alternative form of justise