forensic

adjective fo·ren·sic \ fə-ˈren(t)-sik , -ˈren-zik \

Updated on: 25 Apr 2018

Definition of forensic

1 : belonging to, used in, or suitable to courts of judicature or to public discussion and debate

a lawyer's forensic skills

2 : argumentative, rhetorical

forensic eloquence

3 : relating to or dealing with the application of scientific knowledge to legal problems

forensic medicine

forensic science

forensic pathologist

forensic experts

—

forensically

play \fə-ˈren(t)-si-k(ə-)lē, -ˈren-zi-\ adverb

See forensic defined for English-language learners

See forensic defined for kids

Recent Examples of forensic from the Web

Former Rhode Island police sergeant Derrick Levasseur and forensic psychologist Kris Mohandie are teaming up to take on cold cases across the nation.

— stephanie nolasco, Fox News, "Investigation Discovery's 'Breaking Homicide' hopes to help solve cold cases," 19 Apr. 2018
Prosecutors accused Ortega of fabricating her hallucinations — and a credible forensic psychologist backed them up.

— maureen o'connor, The Cut, "The Jury and the Family Speak Out As the Nanny Trial Ends," 19 Apr. 2018
The Sacramento Bee notes that forensic pathologist Bennet Omalu, who last month performed an independent autopsy on Clark at his family’s request, estimated that the 22-year-old may have survived between three and 10 minutes after being shot.

— anne branigin, The Root, "New Footage Shows Cops Thought Stephon Clark Was Playing Dead, Waited Almost 5 Minutes to Help Him," 17 Apr. 2018
Bruce Frumkin, a forensic clinical psychologist, testified Tuesday, saying lack of sleep, mental issues, low IQ scores and lengthy interrogations contribute to false confessions.

— eric levenson, CNN, "Jurors reach verdict in trial of Pulse gunman's widow," 30 Mar. 2018
Philip Jaffé, a forensic psychologist in Switzerland, says this underlines a responsible gun culture, based on trust, on display in his country.

— isabelle de pommereau, The Christian Science Monitor, "In Europe, preventing gun violence often starts with mental health," 26 Mar. 2018
My father is a forensic psychologist and my mum was a model from Norway.

— alex ritman, The Hollywood Reporter, "Hannah John-Kamen's Year of Blockbusters, From 'Tomb Raider' to 'Ready Player One'," 16 Mar. 2018
The murderous sprees are rarely impulsive, the experts say, but prompted by a triggering event, like the breakup of a relationship, said J. Reid Meloy, a forensic psychologist and professor at the University of California, San Diego.

— Anchorage Daily News, "How a scrawny misfit turned into Florida’s worst school shooter," 26 Feb. 2018
In December, a forensic psychologist who evaluated hundreds of defendants for mental competence was reassigned after the Council for Court Excellence raised questions about her educational background.

— fenit nirappil, Washington Post, "Report faults District’s treatment of mentally ill people in criminal justice system," 26 Feb. 2018

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

Did You Know?

The noun forensic, meaning “an argumentative exercise” derives from the adjective forensic, whose earliest meaning in English is “belonging to, used in, or suitable to courts or to public discussion and debate.” The English word was derived from a Latin word forensic meaning “of the market place or form, public,” which in turn comes from the Latin word forum, meaning “market place, forum.”

Origin and Etymology of forensic

Latin forensis public, forensic, from forum forum

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1659

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

Other Legal Terms

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

forensic

noun

Definition of forensic

1 : an argumentative exercise

2 forensics plural in form but singular or plural in construction : the art or study of argumentative discourse

3 forensics plural in form but singular or plural in construction : the application of scientific knowledge to legal problems; especially : scientific analysis of physical evidence (as from a crime scene)

Recent Examples of forensic from the Web

This could range from from teaching a civics class to talking forensics in a science class.

— perry vandell, azcentral, "How many police officers already are on Phoenix-area school campuses?," 18 Apr. 2018
The new forensics investigation cast doubt on this version, saying there were signs of torture, Novaya Gazeta reported.

— mary ilyushina, CNN, "A death in Russia, and questions about the risks of investigative reporting," 18 Apr. 2018
Myers, a 32-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, was removed from Gore’s chain of command after starting his election campaign and has been assigned to figuring out the logistics of moving forensics into a new crime lab.

— pauline repard, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Gore, Myers — opponents in sheriff's race — disagree on Zahau case as 'political issue'," 17 Apr. 2018
Global Security's digital forensics also helped catch several employees who were feeding confidential details about new products including iPhone X, iPad Pro and AirPods to a blogger at 9to5Mac.

— bloomberg, latimes.com, "In a leaked memo, Apple warns employees to stop leaking," 13 Apr. 2018
Luckily, a clever look into forensics from guns seized around the the time of Biggie and Pac’s murders brings the task force back on track.

— scott glaysher, Billboard, "'Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.' Episodes 5 & 6: Beef Intensifies Between Bad Boy and Death Row," 4 Apr. 2018
The company, called Grayshift, has released marketing materials to police and forensics organizations promising to unlock iPhones with its GrayKey tool, according to Forbes, which obtained a copy of those materials.

— don reisinger, Fortune, "A Former Apple Security Engineer's Company Will Unlock Your iPhone X—for $15,000," 6 Mar. 2018
Joy has an associate degree in computer maintenance and networking as well as digital forensics.

— carol kovach, cleveland.com, "Deadline is approaching for Fairview Park Citizen of the Year nominations: A Place in the Sun," 5 Mar. 2018
That will require a forensics expert to piece all elements of the shooting moment together, and that is a complicated process.

— sam stanton and tony bizjak, sacbee, "Stephon Clark shot six times in back - eight times in all - private autopsy says | The Sacramento Bee," 30 Mar. 2018

Origin and Etymology of forensic

see ¹forensic

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1814

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

Other Chemical Engineering Terms

alkali, cation, decant, hygroscopic, isotope, oxidize, slurry, solute, viscous

FORENSIC Defined for English Language Learners

forensic

adjective

Definition of forensic for English Language Learners

: relating to the use of scientific knowledge or methods in solving crimes
: relating to, used in, or suitable to a court of law

Medical Dictionary

forensic

adjective fo·ren·sic \ fə-ˈren(t)-sik , -ˈren-zik \

medical Definition of forensic

: relating to or dealing with the application of scientific knowledge to legal problems especially in regard to criminal evidence

a forensic pathologist

forensic experts

… a forensic technique of DNA analysis allows for the determination of whether a subject with a specific genetic profile has contributed to aggregate genomic data.
—Kathy L. Hudson, The New England Journal of Medicine, 15 Sept. 2011