Adjudicating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The activity of resolving legal issues through formal decisions involves evaluating evidence and applying laws to disputes
2. This process entails the formal determination of rights and liabilities through a judicial framework or administrative procedure
3. Making formal decisions to settle conflicts by examining evidence and applying rules

Etymology: Adjudicating is the present participle of "adjudicate", and the word it comes from is the Latin "adiudicare", built from "ad" (to, toward) and "iudicare" (to judge). Its root, "iudex", meaning judge, is the same root that gives English "judge" itself. So at its core, to adjudicate is to pass judgment on something, with the prefix pointing that judgment toward a particular matter or party. English also has "adjudge", which came from the same Latin verb by a separate route. The two words are doublets: they split off from one source and reached English at different times and through different paths, so they ended up as near-twins with slightly different flavours. "Adjudge" tends toward declaring a verdict or award, while "adjudicate" carries the sense of weighing evidence and settling a dispute formally.

Synonyms: deciding, ruling, judging, determining, arbitrating

Antonyms: ignoring, overlooking, disregarding, neglecting, refusing