Jūdġ'ment, n.

n. [Written also judgement.] [Fr. jugement, O. Sp. juzgamiento, It. giudicamento, L. Lat. judicamentum, from Lat. judicare. See supra.]

1Sense 1. The act of judging; the act or process of the mind in comparing ideas, to find their mutual relations, and to ascertain truth; the process of examining facts and arguments, to ascertain propriety and justice; the process of examining the relations between one proposition and another.

In judgments between rich and poor, consider not what the poor man needs, but what is his own. Bp. Taylor.

2Sense 2. That which is discerned by the mind in judging; the cognition of some attribute, property, or relation, as belonging to a subject; the assertion or denial of such an attribute, &c., in a proposition; opinion; notion.

I see men's judgments are A parcel of their fortunes. Shak.

3Sense 3. The act or faculty of judging truly, wisely, or skillfully; facility in judging; correctness; taste.

You have good judgment in horsemanship. Shak.

4Sense 4. (Philos.) The act or faculty of comparing objects of any kind, and discerning their relations, attributes, or properties; the act or faculty of affirming or denying one thing of another; the result of the act thus performed.

A judgment is the mental act by which one thing is affirmed or denied of another. Sir W. Hamilton.

A judgment is a combination of two concepts related to one or more common objects of visible intuition. Mansell.

5Sense 5. (Law.) (a.) The sentence of the law, pronounced by a court, or a judge thereof, upon a matter in issue in any cause before it. (b.) Judicial determination; decision of a court.

I do beseech the court To give the judgment. Shak.

6Sense 6. A calamity regarded as sent by God, by way of recompense for wrong committed; a providential punishment. “Judgments are prepared for scorners.” Prov. xix. 29. “This judgment of the heavens that makes us tremble.” Shak.

7Sense 7. (Theol.) The final punishment of the wicked; the last sentence.

Judgment of God, a decision by some perilous experiment,—a term formerly applied to extraordinary trials of secret crimes, as by arms and single combat, by ordeal, or hot plowshares, &c.; it being imagined that God would work miracles to vindicate innocence.

Synonyms—Taste; discernment; decision; determination; award; criticism; estimate; discrimination; penetration; sagacity; intelligence. See TASTE.