puisne

American  

[pyoo-nee] / ˈpyu ni /

adjective

1. Law. younger; inferior in rank; junior, as in appointment.

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noun

1. an associate judge as distinguished from a chief justice.

puisne British  

/ ˈpjuːnɪ /

adjective

1. (esp of a subordinate judge) of lower rank

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Etymology

Origin of puisne

1590–1600; < Anglo-French, equivalent to Old French puis after (< Latin posteā ) + ne born, past participle of naistre to be born (< Latin nāscere ); cf. puny

Example Sentences

So he enlisted as butler in the family of a puisne judge.

From Time Magazine Archive

Appointed puisne judge of the Court of Queen's Bench for Upper Canada, and in 1856 made chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas.

From The Makers of Canada: Index and Dictionary of Canadian History by Various

The supreme court consists of a chief justice and three puisne judges.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 2 "Gloss" to "Gordon, Charles George" by Various

This court is presided over by a chief justice, with five puisne judges, and has appellate civil and criminal jurisdiction for the Dominion.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 2 "Camorra" to "Cape Colony" by Various

On becoming Solicitor-General, in 1834, he received the honour of knighthood, and at the close of 1839 accepted a puisne judgeship as one of the Barons of Exchequer. 

From Norfolk Annals A Chronological Record of Remarkable Events in the Nineteeth Century, Vol. 2 by Mackie, Charles