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

Novartis didn’t test the treatment in adults, but the FDA said that the company had “provided adequate justification to support expanding the indication” to include adult patients.

Read more on Barron's

And because the FA is publicly committed to redistribution, there is ultimately no valid justification for maintaining unequal prize funds.

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USVI’s expert said there was no justification for the transfers and called them “highly suspicious.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Yet the new deduction is adding extra justification for the maneuver in the coming couple years, he said: “This makes a good idea even better.”

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“The deterioration we’ve seen in the labor market, I think, is enough justification for the Fed to cut in December,” said Tom Porcelli, chief economist at Wells Fargo, in an interview.

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Related Words

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