Additur

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A legal decision where a judge increases the amount of monetary damages initially awarded to a plaintiff beyond what the jury determined
2. An order from a court to raise the compensation sum that was first provided to claimants in a trial
3. When a judge supplements the damages awarded by a jury by adding a higher amount to the original verdict

Etymology: Additur is a legal term that describes a court increasing the amount of damages a jury has awarded, the reverse of remittitur, where a judge reduces an excessive award. The Latin source is a form of "addere," meaning "to add," and the word was borrowed directly from Latin into English legal usage. Its structure is transparent: a verb root meaning "add" combined with the Latin passive ending "-tur," which gives the sense "it is added." The Latin ending is the key to the word's logic. In Latin legal writing, verbs ending in "-tur" were used in formal phrasing where the outcome is stated impersonally, so the term reads like a short legal formula meaning "let it be added." English lawyers adopted the phrase as a technical label for this procedure, where the court's order effectively says that the damages shall be increased unless the party accepts the original sum.