justification

[juhs-tuh-fi-key-shuhn]

noun

1. a reason, fact, circumstance, or explanation that justifies or defends.

   His insulting you was ample justification for you to leave the party.

2. an act of justifying.

   The painter's justification of his failure to finish on time didn't impress me.

3. the state of being justified.

4. Also called justification by faith. Theology.,  the act of God whereby humankind is made or accounted just, or free from guilt or penalty of sin.

5. Printing.,  the spacing of words and letters within a line of type so that all full lines in a column have even margins both on the left and on the right.

justification

/ ˌdʒʌstɪfɪˈkeɪʃən /

noun

1. reasonable grounds for complaint, defence, etc

2. the act of justifying; proof, vindication, or exculpation

3. theol

   1. the act of justifying

   2. the process of being justified or the condition of having been justified

4. Also called: justification by faith. Protestant theol the doctrine that God vindicates only those who repent and believe in Jesus

5. printing computing the process of adjusting interword spacing in text or data so that both right and left margins are straight

6. computing the process of moving data right or left so that the first or last character occurs in a predefined position

Other Word Forms

• prejustification noun
• rejustification noun
• superjustification noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of justification¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Late Latin jūstificātiōn-, stem of jūstificātiō, from jūstificāt(us) “justified” (past participle of jūstificāre; justify ) + -iō -ion ( def. )

Example Sentences

Still, modern presidents have generally shied from using the Insurrection Act even in circumstances with strong legal justification.

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He said he met with A&M Provost Alan Sams in January last year and asked the university to end the program, or otherwise explain its justification for keeping it.

Read more on Salon

School buildings became shelters for displaced Palestinians throughout the conflict, and were frequently targeted by IDF forces with the justification that they housed "command and control" centres for Hamas and affiliated groups.

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"We have heard the evidence about what happened to Jermaine and we know that there was no justification for his death," she said.

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Ofcom's investigation found the company "breached its obligations by failing to provide an acceptable level of service without justification".

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Related Words

• apology 
• approval 
• argument 
• basis 
• confirmation 
• explanation 
• pretext 
• rationale 
• rationalization 
• vindication