jury1
[joo r-ee]
- a group of persons sworn to render a verdict or true answer on a question or questions officially submitted to them.
- such a group selected according to law and sworn to inquire into or determine the facts concerning a cause or an accusation submitted to them and to render a verdict to a court.Compare grand jury, petty jury.
- a group of persons chosen to adjudge prizes, awards, etc., as in a competition.
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- to judge or evaluate by means of a jury: All entries will be juried by a panel of professionals.
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- the jury is (still) out, a decision, determination, or opinion has yet to be rendered: The jury is still out on the president's performance.
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Origin of jury1
1250–1300; Middle English jurie, juree, < Old French juree oath, juridical inquiry, noun use of juree, feminine past participle of jurer to swear; cf. jurat
Usage note
See collective noun.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for juries
Contemporary Examples
With juries, admissions tend to trump other evidence as much as a full house beats two of a kind.
The specific issue is that juries in the United States are drawn from county-wide population pools.
Juries are composed of people like me: People with a bone to pick.
Juries are faced with similar ambiguities when it comes to physical injury.
Time and again, juries refused to convict drug defendants, even in cases where there was overwhelming evidence of guilt.
Historical Examples
In this sense he was a fine and effective speaker to courts and juries.
Cleveland Past and PresentMaurice Joblin
He omits to tell us whether he would allow his juries to vote.
Shelley, Godwin and Their CircleH. N. Brailsford
If you make the criminal code sanguinary, juries will not convict.
Essays, First SeriesRalph Waldo Emerson
He lectured to us just as he talked to the juries, quietly and slowly—like a teacher.
The Marx He KnewJohn Spargo
All were condemned by juries to death for high treason on 12th May.
Henry VIII.A. F. Pollard
jury1
- a group of, usually twelve, people sworn to deliver a true verdict according to the evidence upon a case presented in a court of lawSee also grand jury, petit jury
- a body of persons appointed to judge a competition and award prizes
- the jury is still out informal it has not yet been decided or agreed on
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French juree, from jurer to swear; see juror
jury2
- mainly nautical (in combination) makeshiftjury-rigged
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Word Origin
C17: of unknown origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for juries
jury
n.
early 14c. (attested from late 12c. in Anglo-Latin), from Anglo-French juree (late 13c.), from Medieval Latin iurata "an oath, an inquest," fem. past participle of Latin iurare "to swear," from ius (genitive iuris) "law" (see jurist). Meaning "body of persons chosen to award prizes at an exhibition" is from 1851. Grand jury attested from early 15c. in Anglo-French (le graund Jurre).
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jury
adj.
"temporary," 1610s, in jury-mast, a nautical term for a temporary mast put in place of one broken or blown away, of uncertain origin. The word perhaps is ultimately from Old French ajurie "help, relief," from Latin adjutare (see aid (n.)).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper