verdict
Pluralverdicts
- 1An opinion or considered judgment reached about a person, thing, or situation.
The committee delivered its verdict on the proposal after weeks of debate.
Readers' verdicts on the sequel were overwhelmingly positive.
Similarjudgment, opinion, assessment, conclusion, view
Note
The everyday extension of the jury's decision, and it keeps some of the courtroom's finality. An umpire's "not out" verdict is a ruling that settles the matter, not a passing view. When critics, readers or committees deliver a verdict, the word suggests a judgment reached after weighing the case. For a casual impression, opinion or view is the better word.
- 2The decision reached on a question of fact in a civil or criminal case or an inquest.
The jury delivered its verdict to a hushed courtroom.
An inquest returned a verdict of accidental death.
Similarfinding, decision, judgment, ruling, conclusion
Note
Law keeps the word for findings of fact, as distinct from the rulings on law that follow from them. That is why juries and coroners give verdicts. The usual verb is return: a jury returns a verdict of guilty or not guilty, and a coroner returns one of accidental death. The name suits the job. Anglo-Norman verdit joins veir, 'true', and dit, 'saying', so a verdict is a statement of what truly happened.
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Origin
From Middle English verdit, from Anglo-Norman verdit (which gave Medieval Latin veredictum), built from veir ("true") and dit ("saying"). It was possibly a calque of a Germanic term such as Old English sōþword or sōþspell, meaning "true story" or "statement of truth."