Adjudication

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ə(d)ˌd͡ʒu.dɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/

Definitions

1. The act of issuing an official legal judgment or decision ; the process of resolving a dispute or contest by formal judgment
2. The formal pronouncement of a court or authority on matters requiring resolution ; the procedure of settling disagreements through authoritative decision
3. An authoritative ruling given by a court or legal body ; a structured method of resolving conflicts by judgment

Etymology: "Adjudication" comes from Latin "adiudicatio," a noun built on the verb "adiudicare," meaning to award something to someone by a judicial decision. That verb combines "ad," meaning "to," with "iudicare," "to judge," which itself grows out of "ius," law, and "dicere," to say or declare. The literal core of the word is therefore a declaration made in the direction of a party, a formal statement that something belongs to one side. English took the word directly from Latin, and its sense has stayed close to the courtroom. A court or authority "adjudicates" a dispute by pronouncing which claim prevails, and "adjudication" names both that pronouncement and the process leading to it. The English ending "-ion" marks it as an action-noun, the act or result of the verb, which is why the word reads as a process as much as a verdict.

Synonyms: decision, ruling, settlement, arbitration, judgment

Antonyms: disagreement, dispute, controversy, conflict, uncertainty