adjudicate

verb ad·ju·di·cate \ ə-ˈjü-di-ˌkāt \

Definition of adjudicate

adjudicated; adjudicating

transitive verb

:to make an official decision about who is right in (a dispute) :to settle judicially

The school board will adjudicate claims made against teachers.

intransitive verb

:to act as judge

The court can adjudicate on this dispute.

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adjudicative

play \-ˌkā-tiv, -kə-\ adjective

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adjudicator

play \-ˌkā-tər\ noun

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adjudicatory

play \-ˈjü-di-kə-ˌtȯr-ē\ adjective

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adjudicate was our Word of the Day on 10/17/2013. Hear the podcast!

Examples of adjudicate in a Sentence

The board will adjudicate claims made against teachers.
The case was adjudicated in the state courts.
The board will adjudicate when claims are made against teachers.

Recent Examples of adjudicate from the Web

The way out of this wilderness is clear: Colleges should get out of the messy business of adjudicating everything from confused, drunken hookups to terrifying physical attacks.

— david french, National Review, "The New York Times Publishes a Terrible Defense of Campus Kangaroo Courts," 4 Aug. 2017
Officials in the polling stations will adjudicate in case of glitches.

— The Economist, "How to unrig an electionNew methods and technology can make elections fairer," 20 July 2017
Education is key, and education begins at home; in non adjudicating roles.

— leila cobo, Billboard, "'Money Is In Men's Hands': Spain's Top Female Execs Speak Out in New Documentary (Watch)," 10 July 2017
Additionally, Canadian courts have a greater interest in adjudicating cases impinging on constitutional and quasi-constitutional rights because these rights play an essential role in a free and democratic society and embody key Canadian values.

— eriq gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, "Canadian Supreme Court Doesn't Like Facebook Clickwrap in Big Privacy Suit," 23 June 2017
ANKARA, Turkey—A Turkish judge who adjudicates war crimes trials for the United Nations has been found guilty of terrorism by a Turkish court.

— margaret coker, WSJ, "Turkish Court Finds Judge Guilty of Terrorism," 14 June 2017
Because the case hasn’t been adjudicated yet, CMPD declined to comment Monday.

— jane wester, charlotteobserver, "Activist group files request for body camera footage in police-shooting case," 12 June 2017
Mr. Tillerson was forced to try to adjudicate the dispute in phone calls while flying back from a trip to Australia and New Zealand.

— krishnadev calamur, The Atlantic, "What Exactly Is the U.S. Policy on Qatar?," 9 June 2017
Barron said that investigating and adjudicating bad behavior will now be a university responsibility, rather than an inter-fraternity council responsibility.

— susan svrluga, Washington Post, "‘Much more control’: After hazing death, Penn State announces changes to fraternity rules," 2 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'adjudicate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Adjudicate is one of several terms that give testimony to the influence of jus, the Latin word for "law," on our legal language. Adjudicate is from the Latin verb adjudicare, from judicare, meaning "to judge," which, in turn, traces to the Latin noun judex, meaning "judge." English has other judex words, such as judgment, judicial, judiciary, and prejudice. If we admit further evidence, we discover that the root of judex is jus, the word for "law." What's the verdict? Latin law words frequently preside in English-speaking courtrooms. In addition to the judex words, jury, justice, injury, and perjury are all ultimately from Latin jus.

Origin and Etymology of adjudicate

see adjudge

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1695

See Words from the same year

adjudicate Synonyms

Synonyms

adjudge, judge, arbitrate, decide, determine, referee, rule (on), settle, umpire

Related Words

consider, deem, deliberate, hear, ponder, weigh; size up; mediate, moderate, negotiate; prosecute, try; find (for or against); conclude, resolve; redetermine, rejudge

Near Antonyms

equivocate, hedge, pussyfoot, skirt

Other Legal Terms

actionable, alienable, carceral, chattel, complicity, decedent, larceny, malfeasance, modus operandi

Law Dictionary

adjudicate

verb ad·ju·di·cate \ ə-ˈjü-di-ˌkāt \

legal Definition of adjudicate

adjudicated; adjudicating

transitive verb

1 :to settle either finally or temporarily (the rights and duties of the parties to a judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding) on the merits of the issues raised

2 :to pass judgment on as a judge :settle judicially

3 :to pronounce judicially to be