Sentencers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals or entities that impose sentences, often in a legal context, determining the punishment for a crime committed
2. People who decide the judicial consequences for offenders, often employed within the court system
3. Authorities responsible for delivering formal judgments regarding penalties or punishment in legal proceedings

Etymology: "Sentencers" is the plural of "sentencer," formed by adding the agent suffix "-er" to "sentence." The suffix turns a verb or noun into a term for someone who performs the action, so a sentencer is one who passes sentence on a convicted person. The base word "sentence" comes from Latin "sententia," meaning an opinion, feeling or judgment, from the verb "sentire," to feel or perceive. Its legal sense of a punishment imposed by a court grew out of that idea of a formal judgment, so the word's original weight was about opinion and thought rather than punishment. Because the word is a plain compound of an existing term and a suffix, its history is largely that of "sentence" itself, with "-er" attached to name the official who delivers that judgment.

Synonyms: judges, adjudicators, arbiters, magistrates, jurists