What does adjudgement mean?
Adjudgement is a formal word for a decision made after a dispute has been considered, most often by a judge in court but also by another recognized authority, such as a tribunal or committee. It can refer either to the resulting decision or to the act of reaching it. The term is associated with legal and institutional settings and therefore sounds more formal and consequential than the general word decision. Adjudgement is less common than adjudication, judgment, and judgement; it is especially associated with British legal usage, while American legal writing normally uses judgment or adjudication. In American spelling, judgment is standard, whereas judgement is the traditional British variant. Adjudgement remains useful when the focus is specifically on an authoritative ruling rather than the general process of deciding or everyday opinion. It appears in legal reporting, judgments, and formal discussions of dispute resolution, where its institutional associations make it preferable to looser alternatives. The word also illustrates how English legal vocabulary preserves a Roman legal heritage while allowing older spellings to coexist with familiar modern forms.
nounA formal decision or ruling made by a judge or another authority empowered to settle a matter. More broadly, it refers to the act or process of adjudicating a dispute or determining an issue.
- A decision or ruling made by a judge, tribunal, committee, or other recognized authority.
- The act or process of adjudicating a dispute or determining an issue.
"The court delivered its adjudgement on the disputed claim."
"After considering the submissions from both sides, the tribunal issued its adjudgement."
"The dispute remained unresolved pending the adjudgement of an independent review panel."
The standard plural retains the final e and adds -s.
"The judgments included several significant adjudgements concerning disputed contracts."
At its heart, adjudgement is judgment with a legal prefix—a word for a decision made by someone authorized to decide.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does adjudgement come from?
English adjudgement was formed from adjudge and the suffix -ment. Adjudge comes from Latin adjudicare, a form of iudicare, meaning “to judge,” with the prefix ad-. The same Latin family produced English words including adjudicator, judicial, judicious, and judicature.
How adjudgement is actually used
Adjudgement is formal and most common in legal or institutional contexts. It is a relatively uncommon spelling compared with adjudication and judgment; in Britain, judgement is also a traditional spelling, while American usage normally favors judgment.
Easily confused with adjudgement
Adjudication is the standard term for the legal process or its outcome; adjudgement is a rarer equivalent spelling, used especially for a formal decision.
Judgment is the standard US spelling of the common noun and verb; it can share adjudgement's sense of an authoritative ruling but is much more frequent.