adjudicate

verb

ad·ju·di·cate | \ ə-ˈjü-di-ˌkāt

adjudicated; adjudicating

Definition of adjudicate

: 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.

Other Words from adjudicate Synonyms Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about adjudicate

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Other Words from adjudicate

adjudicative \ -ˌkā-tiv ,

-kə- \ adjective

adjudicator \ -ˌkā-tər

\ noun

adjudicatory \ -ˈjü-di-kə-ˌtȯr-ē

\ adjective

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.

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 on the Web

Less than preventing crimes, signatures were useful for adjudicating blame. — Rachel Sugar, Vox, "Why are we still signing credit card receipts?," 5 Dec. 2018 The net result is that disputes that normally would have been adjudicated via the public court process are often processed via private arbitration, which generally favors corporations over individuals. — Cyrus Farivar, Ars Technica, "Thousands of Google employees slam execs’ response to sexual misconduct," 1 Nov. 2018 That seems to have been a way that without dragging these two people and their families through the mud, this could have been adjudicated. — Fox News, "Kavanaugh's high school friend reacts to fiery testimony," 28 Sep. 2018 As if being insulted in print by your boss isn’t enough, a federal judge on Thursday threatened to hold the attorney general in contempt of court for deporting a mother and daughter even as their asylum case is being adjudicated. — Lynn Yaeger, Vogue, "The Week in Washington: Is the Blue Wave Spooking “Your Favorite President?”," 12 Aug. 2018 Facebook will create an independent oversight body to adjudicate appeals on content moderation issues, the company said today. — Casey Newton, The Verge, "Facebook will create an independent oversight group to review content moderation appeals," 15 Nov. 2018 One of the ongoing cases that the Louisiana prosecutor relies on is United States v. Spencer, a child pornography case currently being adjudicated by the federal court in San Francisco. — Cyrus Farivar, Ars Technica, "Prosecutor: Suspect must give up his phone’s passcode in fatal hazing case," 24 Aug. 2018 Right now, the only thing saving them is a court order from a California judge preventing the government from deporting reunified families while children’s asylum claims are adjudicated. — Dara Lind, Vox, "Exclusive: new lawsuit claims Trump illegally denied asylum claims of separated parents," 20 Aug. 2018 In 2017 consular officers adjudicated more than 13 million nonimmigrant visa applications. — Dave Seminara, WSJ, "Constitutional Ways to Curb ‘Birth Tourism’," 11 Nov. 2018

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.

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Last Updated

14 Jan 2019

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Time Traveler for adjudicate

The first known use of adjudicate was circa 1695

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More Definitions for adjudicate

adjudicate

verb

ad·ju·di·cate | \ ə-ˈjü-di-ˌkāt

adjudicated; adjudicating

Legal Definition of adjudicate

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 was adjudicated a bankrupt was adjudicated the child's father

4 : to convey by judicial sale

intransitive verb

: to come to a judicial decision : act as judge the court adjudicated upon the case

Other Words from adjudicate

adjudication \ ə-ˌjü-di-ˈkā-shən

\ noun

adjudicative \ ə-ˈjü-di-ˌkā-tiv, -kə- \ noun

adjudicator \ -ˌkā-tər

\ noun