jurisdiction
Americannoun
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the right, power, or authority to administer justice by hearing and determining controversies.
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power; authority; control.
He has jurisdiction over all American soldiers in the area.
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the extent or range of judicial, law enforcement, or other authority.
This case comes under the jurisdiction of the local police.
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the territory over which authority is exercised.
All islands to the northwest are his jurisdiction.
noun
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the right or power to administer justice and to apply laws
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the exercise or extent of such right or power
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power or authority in general
Other Word Forms
- jurisdictional adjective
- jurisdictionally adverb
- jurisdictive adjective
- prejurisdiction noun
- superjurisdiction noun
Etymology
Origin of jurisdiction
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Latin jūris dictiōn-, stem of jūris dictiō, literally, “a saying of law,” from jūris, genitive of jūs “law, right” ( jus 1 ( def. ) ) + dictiō “rhetorical delivery, a saying” ( diction ); replacing Middle English jurediccioun, from Old French juredicion, from Latin, as above
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
ExpressVPN is based in the British Virgin Islands, a jurisdiction that does not have mandatory data retention laws and is well outside the Five/Nine/Fourteen Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance.
From Salon
The Texas federal court cited lack of jurisdiction and failure to state a claim against various defendants in its dismissal ruling.
Alberta Minister of Energy and Mines Brian Jean said at the conference that Canada is having “good discussions with Asia and different jurisdictions” about funding the pipelines.
From Barron's
He added: "Remember that these cosplayers have no more jurisdiction or legal authority than ordinary citizens."
From BBC
Government figures show around £93m of Jersey notes were in circulation at the end of 2025, with minimum print runs required "to achieve value for money in a smaller jurisdiction such as ours".
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
