adjudicate

[uh-joo-di-keyt]

verb (used with object)

adjudicated, adjudicating 

1. to pronounce or decree by judicial sentence.

2. to settle or determine (an issue or dispute) judicially.

3. to act as judge of (a contest).

verb (used without object)

adjudicated, adjudicating 

1. to sit in judgment (usually followed byupon ).

adjudicate

/ əˈdʒuːdɪkətɪv, əˈdʒuːdɪˌkeɪt /

verb

1. to give a decision (on), esp a formal or binding one

2. (intr) to act as an adjudicator

3. (tr) chess to determine the likely result of (a game) by counting relative value of pieces, positional strength, etc

4. (intr) to serve as a judge or arbiter, as in a competition

Other Word Forms

• adjudicative adjective
• adjudicatory adjective
• adjudicator noun
• nonadjudicative adjective
• nonadjudicatively adverb
• readjudicate verb
• adjudication noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of adjudicate¹

First recorded in 1690–1700; from Latin adjūdicātus (past participle of adjūdicāre ); ad-, judge, -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of adjudicate¹

C18: from Latin adjūdicāre to award something to someone, from ad- to + jūdicāre to act as a judge, from jūdex judge

Example Sentences

The days when dictators could live in gilded exile with fortunes in secret Swiss bank accounts are mostly over, primarily because of global mechanisms for adjudicating human-rights abuses and tracking ill-gotten gains.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He claimed her firing was “for cause,” a term whose precise legal meaning hasn’t been adjudicated but is widely interpreted to connote gross malfeasance or some such offense in office.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Meanwhile, the case was about to reach a United Nations agency that adjudicates copyright disputes.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

A White House official told the BBC that all individuals deported have had their asylum claims fully adjudicated before removal.

Read more on BBC

But the countries have traded allegations of ceasefire breaches, and analysts say a comprehensive peace pact adjudicating the territorial dispute at the core of the conflict remains elusive.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• arbitrate