adjudication

American  

[uh-joo-di-kay-shuhn] / əˌdʒu dɪˈkeɪ ʃən /

noun

• adjudications
  plural

1. an act of adjudicating.

2. Law.

   1. the act of a court in making an order, judgment, or decree.

   2. a judicial decision or sentence.

   3. a court decree in bankruptcy.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonadjudication
  noun
• readjudication
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• adjudications
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of adjudication

First recorded in 1685–95, adjudication is from the Late Latin word adjūdicātiōn- (stem of adjūdicātiō ). See adjudicate, -ion

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Explanation

After a long court trial, the judge reviews all the evidence to come to a conclusion about a case and that process is called adjudication. Adjudication comes from the Old French ajugier meaning "to judge, pass judgment on." An adjudication results in a formal judgment or decision given by a court. Often these adjudications lead to the making of history, like the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka trial in which the process of adjudication resulted in a decision that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

adjudication adjudications

Distorting core legal terms through a new epistemology further removes the institution from being taken seriously in international adjudication.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

Event organizers and the law school letter said her remarks focused on military adjudication procedures and made no reference to any particular client.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

Many individuals awaiting asylum adjudication get work authorization.

From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026

"This case assumes considerable institutional concern, not because of the decision that was taken on the merits of the case, but about the process of adjudication and determination," the top court said.

From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026

But within a year, California probation authorities ordered him to return to Los Angeles because he was on probation following his adjudication as a ward of the court for a prior offense.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

"USCIS's hold on adjudications cannot be attributed to anything that these individuals did wrong; rather, it arises solely by the happenstance of their birth," the judge said.

From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026

“Today’s FTC can bring civil enforcement suits against private parties, promulgate binding rules, issue final orders in administrative adjudications, and investigate potential violations of the law.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025

The act specifies administrative procedures for both individual adjudications and rules with the force of law.

From Slate ● May 12, 2025

Series producer Clare Parody frequently has to make instinctive adjudications when, as is often the case, a contestant gives an answer that seems a marginal call, but isn't.

From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2024

Here we may be permitted to remark, that we believe, since publicity was given to their adjudications on fiscal matters, there is quite as little jobbing in Ireland as in this country.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 55, No. 343, May 1844 by Various

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