Adjudications

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The formal decisions rendered by a court or an authorized body, determining the outcome of a dispute or case
2. The process of making a judgment or ruling in legal contexts, often involving the resolution of conflicting claims
3. A legal assessment that culminates in a definitive ruling, often serving as a final resolution to a matter at hand

Etymology: "Adjudications" is simply the plural of "adjudication," so its history is that of the singular noun. The noun was borrowed from Latin "adiudicatio," a form built on the verb "adiudicare," meaning to award something to someone by judicial decision. That verb combines "ad-" ("to") with "iudicare" ("to judge"), so at its root the idea is a judgment directed toward a particular party. "Iudicare" itself comes from "iudex," the judge, a word made from "ius" (law) and "dicere" (to say), literally one who speaks the law. In English the noun keeps that sense of a formal decision handed down to settle a dispute. The English form is recognizably "adjudicate" plus the noun ending "-ion," the same pattern that produces words like "creation" and "conclusion," which is why the English word looks like a derivative of the verb even though it was taken directly from Latin.

Synonyms: decisions, rulings, verdicts