# judgement

Pronunciation: say "JUJ-muhnt" /ˈd͡ʒʌd͡ʒ.mənt/

## Noun

1. The opinion or decision a person arrives at after considering something.
   - Simple: An opinion or decision that someone reaches after thinking about something.
   - _In my judgement, the old bridge is too weak to carry lorries._
   - _It is too early to make any firm judgements about the new policy._
2. The mental power of weighing things up and reaching conclusions; used on its own, especially the ability to judge or decide rightly, fairly or wisely.
   - Simple: The ability to think carefully and make good, fair or sensible decisions.
   - _A good editor needs sharp judgement as well as a love of books._
   - _Against my better judgement, I agreed to lend him the money._
3. The process of weighing something up in order to form an opinion or reach a decision about it.
   - Simple: The act of forming an opinion about something or someone.
   - _Fair judgement of a candidate's work means reading all of it, not just the first page._
   - _Accurate judgement of the speed of oncoming cars is essential when pulling out of a junction._
4. In religious belief, God's final judging of all people at the end of the world, which decides the fate of every soul.
   - Simple: In religion, the time at the end of the world when God decides what will happen to every person.
   - _Wall paintings in many medieval churches show souls being weighed at the judgement._
   - _The sermon warned that no one, rich or poor, could escape the final judgement._

## Origin

Middle English juggement was borrowed from Old French jugement. That word goes back to Late Latin iūdicāmentum, itself built on Latin iūdicō. The word partly took over from doom, and it can also be read as judge plus -ment.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/judgement (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).