Definition: judge
Source: WordNet (r) 1.7
judge
n 1: a public official authorized to decide questions bought
before a court of justice [syn: justice, jurist, magistrate]
2: an authority who is able to estimate worth or quality [syn:
evaluator]
v 1: determine the result of, as of a competition
2: form an opinion of or pass judgment on
3: form an opinion about; judge tentatively; form an estimate
of, esp. quantities or time; "I estimate this chicken to
weigh at three pounds" [syn: estimate, gauge, approximate,
guess]
4: pronounce judgment on; "They labeled him unfit to work here"
[syn: pronounce, label]
5: put on trial or sit as the judge at the trial of; "The
football star was tried for the murder of his wife"; "The
judge tried both father and son in separate trials" [syn:
adjudicate, try]
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Judge \Judge\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Judged; p. pr. & vb. n. Judging.] [OE. jugen, OF. jugier, F. juger, L. judicare, fr. judex judge; jus law or right + dicare to proclaim, pronounce, akin to dicere to say. See Just, a., and Diction, and cf. Judicial.] 1. To hear and determine, as in causes on trial; to decide as a judge; to give judgment; to pass sentence. The Lord judge between thee and me. --Gen. xvi. 5. Father, who art judge Of all things made, and judgest only right! --Milton. 2. To assume the right to pass judgment on another; to sit in judgment or commendation; to criticise or pass adverse judgment upon others. See Judge, v. t., 3. Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all. --Shak. 3. To compare facts or ideas, and perceive their relations and attributes, and thus distinguish truth from falsehood; to determine; to discern; to distinguish; to form an opinion about. Judge not according to the appearance. --John vii. 24. She is wise if I can judge of her. --Shak.
Judge \Judge\, n. [OE. juge, OF. & F. juge, fr. OF. jugier, F.
juger, to judge. See Judge, v. i.]
1. (Law) A public officer who is invested with authority to
hear and determine litigated causes, and to administer
justice between parties in courts held for that purpose.
The parts of a judge in hearing are four: to direct
the evidence; to moderate length, repetition, or
impertinency of speech; to recapitulate, select, and
collate the material points of that which hath been
said; and to give the rule or sentence. --Bacon.
2. One who has skill, knowledge, or experience, sufficient to
decide on the merits of a question, or on the quality or
value of anything; one who discerns properties or
relations with skill and readiness; a connoisseur; an
expert; a critic.
A man who is no judge of law may be a good judge of
poetry, or eloquence, or of the merits of a
painting. --Dryden.
3. A person appointed to decide in a?trial of skill, speed,
etc., between two or more parties; an umpire; as, a judge
in a horse race.
4. (Jewish Hist.) One of supreme magistrates, with both civil
and military powers, who governed Israel for more than
four hundred years.
5. pl. The title of the seventh book of the Old Testament;
the Book of Judges.
Judge Advocate (Mil. & Nav.), a person appointed to act as
prosecutor at a court-martial; he acts as the
representative of the government, as the responsible
adviser of the court, and also, to a certain extent, as
counsel for the accused, when he has no other counsel.
Judge-Advocate General, in the United States, the title of
two officers, one attached to the War Department and
having the rank of brigadier general, the other attached
to the Navy Department and having the rank of colonel of
marines or captain in the navy. The first is chief of the
Bureau of Military Justice of the army, the other performs
a similar duty for the navy. In England, the designation
of a member of the ministry who is the legal adviser of
the secretary of state for war, and supreme judge of the
proceedings of courts-martial.
Syn: Judge, Umpire, Arbitrator, Referee.
Usage: A judge, in the legal sense, is a magistrate appointed
to determine questions of law. An umpire is a person
selected to decide between two or more who contend for
a prize. An arbitrator is one chosen to allot to two
contestants their portion of a claim, usually on
grounds of equity and common sense. A referee is one
to whom a case is referred for final adjustment.
Arbitrations and references are sometimes voluntary,
sometimes appointed by a court.
Judge \Judge\, v. t.
1. To hear and determine by authority, as a case before a
court, or a controversy between two parties. ``Chaos
[shall] judge the strife.'' --Milton.
2. To examine and pass sentence on; to try; to doom.
God shall judge the righteous and the wicked.
--Eccl. iii.
7.
To bring my whole cause 'fore his holiness, And to
be judged by him. --Shak.
3. To arrogate judicial authority over; to sit in judgment
upon; to be censorious toward.
Judge not, that ye be not judged. --Matt. vii.
1.
4. To determine upon or deliberation; to esteem; to think; to
reckon.
If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord.
--Acts xvi.
15.
5. To exercise the functions of a magistrate over; to govern.
[Obs.]
Make us a king to judge us. --1 Sam. viii.
5.
Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
Judge
(Heb. shophet, pl. shophetim), properly a magistrate or ruler,
rather than one who judges in the sense of trying a cause. This
is the name given to those rulers who presided over the affairs
of the Israelites during the interval between the death of
Joshua and the accession of Saul (Judg. 2:18), a period of
general anarchy and confusion. "The office of judges or regents
was held during life, but it was not hereditary, neither could
they appoint their successors. Their authority was limited by
the law alone, and in doubtful cases they were directed to
consult the divine King through the priest by Urim and Thummim
(Num. 27:21). Their authority extended only over those tribes by
whom they had been elected or acknowledged. There was no income
attached to their office, and they bore no external marks of
dignity. The only cases of direct divine appointment are those
of Gideon and Samson, and the latter stood in the peculiar
position of having been from before his birth ordained 'to begin
to deliver Israel.' Deborah was called to deliver Israel, but
was already a judge. Samuel was called by the Lord to be a
prophet but not a judge, which ensued from the high gifts the
people recognized as dwelling in him; and as to Eli, the office
of judge seems to have devolved naturally or rather ex officio
upon him." Of five of the judges, Tola (Judg. 10:1), Jair (3),
Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon (12:8-15), we have no record at all
beyond the bare fact that they were judges. Sacred history is
not the history of individuals but of the kingdom of God in its
onward progress.
In Ex. 2:14 Moses is so styled. This fact may indicate that
while for revenue purposes the "taskmasters" were over the
people, they were yet, just as at a later time when under the
Romans, governed by their own rulers.
