justifyv.

Brit.

/ˈdʒʌstᵻfʌɪ/, U.S.

/ˈdʒəstəˌfaɪ/

Forms: Middle English iustefiȝe, Middle English 1600s justyfy, Middle English–1500s iustefie, Middle English–1500s iustefy, Middle English–1500s iustefye, Middle English–1500s iustyfye, Middle English–1500s justyfye, Middle English–1600s iustifie, Middle English–1600s iustifye, Middle English–1600s justefie, Middle English–1600s justifye, Middle English–1700s iustify, Middle English–1700s justifie, Middle English– justify, 1500s iustyffy, 1500s iustyfy, 1500s–1600s iustyfie, 1600s justefy; Scottish pre-1700 iustefe, pre-1700 iustefy, pre-1700 iustefye, pre-1700 iustiefie, pre-1700 iustiffie, pre-1700 iustifie, pre-1700 iustify, pre-1700 justefe, pre-1700 justefie, pre-1700 justefy, pre-1700 justife, pre-1700 justifie, pre-1700 justifye, pre-1700 justyfy, pre-1700 1700s– justify, 1800s justifee.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French justifier; Latin justificare.

Etymology: < (i) Anglo-Norman justifyer, Anglo-Norman and Middle French justifier, justefier (French justifier ) to declare (a person) to be innocent or righteous, to absolve (a person) (12th cent. in Old French, originally and frequently in a theological context; also used reflexively (beginning of the 13th cent.); 1564 in specific Protestant use: compare note at justification n. 1), to bring (a person) to justice, to do justice to (a person), to show (a person) to be just or in the right (all 12th cent.), to convict and punish (13th cent.), to corroborate, prove, verify (an argument, statement, or opinion) (1368), (in printing) to adjust (a matrix) to make the sides level and square (1521), in Anglo-Norman also to offer a defence in court that (an act) was lawful (early 14th cent. or earlier), to rule, control (a country or people) (a1393 or earlier), and its etymon (ii) post-classical Latin justificare to treat with justice, to exonerate, vindicate, declare innocent, to make (a person) righteous by the grace of God (Vulgate), (of a claim) to establish (10th cent. in British sources), to correct, set right (from c1000 in British sources; from 13th cent. in continental sources), to bring to justice (11th cent.; from early 12th cent. in British sources), to judge, to administer justice (11th cent.), (reflexive) to stand trial (12th cent.; from 13th cent. in British sources), to condemn, execute (15th cent. in British sources) < classical Latin iūstus just adj. + -ficāre -fy suffix. Compare justification n.Compare Catalan justificar (1460), Spanish justificar (c1200), Portuguese justificar (15th cent.), Italian giustificare (a1342). In Middle English prefixed and unprefixed forms of the past participle are attested (see y- prefix).

1. Chiefly Theology (Christian Church).

a. transitive. To absolve; to declare to be innocent or righteous; spec. to cause or declare to be free from the penalty of sin on the grounds of Christ's righteousness or by the infusion of grace. See justification n. 1.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > grace > righteousness > make righteous [verb (transitive)] > justify

justifya1382

society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > immunity or exemption from liability > justification > justify [verb (transitive)] > exculpate > in theology

justifya1382

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. v. 23 Wo..that iustefien [L. iustificatis] the vnpitous for ȝiftes.

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Rom. iii. 28 Forsothe we demen a man for to be iustifyed [L. iustificari] by feith, withouten workis of lawe.

c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 700 (MED) Lorde..non lyuyande to þe is justyfyet.

1526 Bible (Tyndale) Rom. iv. 25 Jesus..Which was delivered for oure synnes, and rose agayne forto iustifye vs.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Exod. xxiii. 7 The innocent and righteous shalt thou not sley, for I iustifie not y^e vngodly.

a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1954) VII. 228 Only thy good life can assure thy conscience, and the World, that thou art justified.

a1740 D. Waterland Summary View Doctr. Justif. iv. 18 in Serm. Several Important Subj. (1742) II God..has made no Promise, or Covenant to justify Any One without the Use of Baptism.

1789 G. Townsend King's Recovery 22 As the Lord hath loved, so he hath justified and redeemed his Church and People.

1838 J. H. Newman Lect. Justif. xii. 325 God justified Abraham, and He glorified Elijah.

1857 G. Potessaro tr. P. G. Levshin Orthodox Doctr. Apostolic Eastern Church ii. xi. 93 How can human actions justify man, when he cannot justify himself, except after acknowledging that he is a sinner and worthy of Divine wrath?

1893 J. A. Beet Through Christ to God ii. xi. 95 Paul declares..that..God justifies those who believe; or something to the same effect.

1955 J. Murray Redempt. Accomplished & Appl. v. 129 This reflex or secondary act of faith is not the faith in view when we are said to be justified by faith and that this faith by which we are justified is the initial and primary act of faith in Jesus Christ.

2011 Church Times 23 Sept. 21/5 Paul's main purpose in Romans is to defend God against charges of acting unjustly in justifying sinners.

b. intransitive. To confer or assure righteousness.

ΚΠ

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Rom. viii. 34 God that iustifieth, who is it that condempneth?

1526 W. Tyndale Prol. Epist. Rom. sig. av^v Fayth only iustifyeth and bringeth the sprite and lust vn to the vttewarde good workes.

1550 J. Veron Godly Saiyngs Ep. Ded. sig. A.vi^v Yf the Sacramente dothe not iustyfye, and brynge grace of it selfe, then it is but bare breade & wyne.

1689 W. Sherlock Pract. Disc. Death iii. 318 A baptized Christian must not always expect to be saved by such Grace, as saves and justifies in Baptism.

1741 R. Rawlin Christ Righteousness of his People vii. 300 A faith as is attended with real holiness, and is productive of true obedience; this and no other is the faith that justifies.

1845 G. Cole Threefold Cord iv. 112 While faith..is connected with the blood that justifies on the one hand, it is equally consistent with the grace that justifies on the other.

1859 J. Cumming Ruth viii. 138 It is the office of Jesus to pardon, to justify, to welcome.

1901 E. H. Plumptre Gen. Epist. St. James 77 His [sc. St. Paul's] teaching..led men to think that they might be justified by faith, not in God who justifies, but in a dogma about justification.

1938 R. B. Hoyle tr. K. Barth Holy Ghost & Christian Life ii. 57 Justifying faith is ‘concrete faith, composed or incarnate’. Not because it is this does it justify. But it justifies not without, so that it is this.

2012 A. E. McGrath Reformation Thought (ed. 4) vii. 121 Luther argues that a faith which is content to believe in the historical reliability of the gospels is not a faith which justifies.

a. transitive. To show (a person) to be just or in the right; to prove or maintain the righteousness, justness, or innocence of; to exonerate (with against, from, of a charge, etc.). Also reflexive.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > immunity or exemption from liability > justification > justify [verb (transitive)] > vindicate

to-deraignc1320

justifya1382

wreakc1400

vindicate1641

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Psalms l. 6 That thou be iustefied [L. iustificeris] in thi woordis, and ouercome whan thou art demed.

a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 99 Þou..iustifiest me in all my disposicions.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Ecclus. vii. 5 Iustifie not thy self before God.

1600 E. Blount tr. G. F. di Conestaggio Hist. Uniting Portugall to Castill 224 Some of his friendes, laboured to iustifie him.

1660 R. Baxter Life of Faith 44 How the Saints will be magnified,..and be justified against all the accusations of Satan, and calumnies of wicked men.

1679 R. Baxter Which is True Church? ii. 82 The Papists themselves ordinarily justifie them from that charge, and confess, that the Christians of those Countries are honest harmless men.

1701 tr. J. Le Clerc Lives Primitive Fathers 142 He..justified himself of the Accusation touching the Arm of Arsinius.

1744 J. Campbell Lives Admirals III. i. 46 He not only justified himself very warmly on that Point, but concluded his Defence with saying, that his Conduct had saved the English Fleet.

1784 T. Percival Moral & Literary Diss. 181 Mr. Pope, who knew him well, justified him from the imputation of hypocrisy.

1815 Times 27 Nov. 2/5 The first witness for the defendant..justified M. the Count Lavalette against the charge of having held intelligence with Buonaparte.

1850 O. L. Barbour Rep. Supreme Court N.-Y. 4 472 The prisoner was not allowed to justify himself under an apprehension of serious bodily harm.

1887 Austral. Jrnl. Apr. 443/2 Your grandfather..was justified of the crime some had laid to his charge.

1906 F. Macdonald J. J. Rousseau I. iv. 50 The publication of the Correspondance Littéraire would serve to rehabilitate Grimm, and to justify him from the charge of being a gratuitous calumniator of Rousseau.

1958 L. Lockert Stud. French-classical Trag. i. 99 Did Corneille..ironically pretend to justify her..for those who had delighted in the characters of Andromaque?

1997 M. Osiel Mass Atrocity, Collective Memory, & Law 44 One party to the debate, the defendants, are forced to justify themselves, in response to prosecutorial accusation.

b. transitive. Of a state of things, circumstance, etc.: to be evidence or argument for the righteousness, justness, or innocence of (a person or body). Often in passive: to have good justification, to be in the right. With in an action.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > immunity or exemption from liability > justification > justify [verb (transitive)] > justify or sanction > specifically of things

authorize1589

justify1603

warrant1654

exculpate1706

1603 R. Rogers Seuen Treat. ii. xvii. 184 If we should speake of mens faults with bewailing them..; yet could we not be iustified in so doing, except we haue vsed all meanes which we know, to amend them.

?a1645 A. Stafford Just Apol. in Life Blessed Virgin (1860) p. xxiv The profane Idolatrizing of this Superlative Saint, will iustifie me in all eyes.

1709 F. Atterbury Serm. St. Brigit's 4 The Publick Burthens..will not justify us in giving Nothing.

1775 E. Burke Speech Resol. for Concil. Colonies 48 I think then I am..justified in the sixth and last resolution.

1810 Gentleman's Mag. July 66/1 Parliament was justified in looking to this fund as affording a prospect of defraying the interest of the Loan of the year.

1860 C. Dickens Uncommerc. Traveller in All Year Round 29 Sept. 588/2 The pair have a dejected consciousness that they are not justified in appearing on the surface of the earth.

1919 K. Pearson in C. Goring Eng. Convict 12 The use by the formulator of a thoroughly unscientific method does not justify us in rejecting his hypothesis.

1960 G. S. Hawkins in D. H. Menzel Radio Noise Spectrum v. 87 The correlations described by Kalashnikov had no significance, and..he was not justified in claiming that meteors produced magnetic effects.

1998 R. Shelly Falling in Love with Jesus (2003) 171 The Pharisee's loud public prayer may well have justified him in the eyes of his own kind and before the crowd who heard him boast of his own obnoxious goodness.

c. intransitive with reflexive meaning. Cf. earlier sense 7a(a). rare.

ΚΠ

1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. 86 Neither Monke, woman, nor Clerke was by Law to justifie by battaile in their own person.

1908 B. Stoker Lady Athlyne xii. 153 He had told his women folk that the car would be ready, and he wished to justify.

2009 R. Cyr-Quasmi Labels xx. 153 My mind wants to justify by speaking words.

a. transitive. To make good (an argument, statement, or opinion); to confirm or support by attestation or evidence; to corroborate, prove, verify. With simple object, or (less commonly) clause as object, object and infinitive, or †object and complement.In later use often influenced by sense 6.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > testing > proof, demonstration > prove, demonstrate [verb (transitive)]

i-sothea925

soothec950

fanda1000

kitheOE

betell1048

showc1175

prove?c1225

treousec1275

stablisha1325

approve1340

verifyc1386

justifya1393

tryc1412

answer?a1425

appreve?c1450

to make gooda1470

convictc1475

averifyc1503

arguea1513

find1512

pree1515

comprobate1531

demonstrate1538

conclude1549

convince1555

argument1558

evict1571

avoucha1593

evidencea1601

remonstrate1601

clear1605

attaint1609

monstrate1609

evince1610

evince1611

improve1613

remonstrance1621

to make out1653

ascertain1670

to bring off1674

to make (something) to through1675

render1678

substantiatea1691

establisha1704

to bring out1727

realize1763

validate1775

the mind > attention and judgement > testing > attestation, witness, evidence > attest, bear witness [verb (transitive)] > support, corroborate

fasteneOE

i-sothea925

sustainc1325

witness1362

approvec1380

confirmc1384

affirma1393

justifya1393

to bear outa1475

corrobore1485

uphold1485

nourisha1522

underpinc1522

to countenance outa1529

favoura1530

soothe1544

strengthen1548

comfort1593

second1596

accredit1598

evidencea1601

warrantise1600

compact1608

back1612

thickena1616

accreditate1654

shoulder1674

support1691

corroborate1706

carry1835

to give (also lend) colour1921

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. l. 1634 Rethoriqes eloquences..Wherof a man schal justifie Hise wordes in disputeisoun.

a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. ciiii. f. xli So that I myght somwhat Iustyfie my reporte by some Auctour of Auctorite.

1559 in J. Strype Ann. Reformation (1709) I. ii. App. xi. 34 This shalbe justified owt of Irenæus.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) v. i. 130 Were I so minded I heere could..iustifie you Traitors.

a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 41 For who can justify, that Nature there Is ty'd to the same Laws, she acts by here?

1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. v. xxxiii. 339 He justified the Notion to be innocent.

1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall II. xxvi. 565 The narratives of antiquity are justified by the experience of modern times.

1832 Morning Watch 5 440 He had jumped to his conclusions on insufficient grounds, and then sought for arguments to justify his opinion.

1884 Manch. Examiner 6 May 5/3 It would be hard to justify this particular assertion by an appeal to facts.

1903 Amer. Jrnl. Semitic Langs. & Lit. 19 206 Such a supposition is not justified by the facts.

1917 Pacific Reporter 145 181/1 It was sufficient to justify and prove that the injury also caused her to suffer from ‘flat foot’.

1980 O. A. Johnson in P. A. French et al. Stud. Epistemology 123 In demonstrating its truth, we justified it to be true. By justifying the truth of this proposition, we justified the truth of the proposition ‘Someone can justify something to be true’.

2004 J. Stroud Golem's Eye 34 He found himself trying to justify his statement, when he should have kept silent.

†b. transitive. To assert as the truth, sometimes in justification; to affirm, aver. With object and infinitive, simple object, or clause as object. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > statement > assertion or affirmation > [verb (transitive)]

vowc1330

anferme1340

affirma1382

willa1382

threapc1386

avow1393

to make oneself strongc1425

maintain?c1430

protest1440

traverse1491

assure1509

ferma1525

verc1540

profess1542

enforce1579

justify1579

aver1582

to take on1583

asserta1604

will1614

assevera1618

positive1656

autume1661

declare1709

obtesta1722

predicate1782

asseveratea1847

1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 456 The which would not be beleued..for the vncredible force and power of armies which was iustified to come.

1617 F. Bacon Let. to King (1763) 131 I disliked it the more, because he justified it to be law; which was his old song.

1658 F. Osborne Trad. Mem. Reign Elizabeth 99 in Hist. Mem. Reigns Elizabeth & Iames An Inquisition..which a Cursiter did about that time justify he had inrolled.

1680 J. Rushworth Hist. Coll.: Second Pt. II. App. 72 Alexander Hyde, and Humphry Hyde justified it to be a true Certificate.

1750 J. S. Gardiner Art & Pleasures of Hare-hunting ii. 14 The Doctor..to this Day relates and justifies the Truth of every Circumstance I have mentioned.

1873 J. Timbs Bk. Mod. Legal Anecd. 138/2 Jefferies thereupon went on, inveighing against what Attwood had published; and Attwood justified it to be in defence of the English Constitution.

†c. transitive. To acknowledge as a fact, or as true or genuine. With simple object or clause as object. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > statement > acknowledgement or recognition > acknowledge or recognize [verb (transitive)]

yknowOE

knowc1175

yatec1175

knowledgec1225

vow1338

granta1387

kenc1400

admit1415

reknowledgec1450

acknowledge?1526

agnize1535

recognize1537

recognoscea1550

justify1600

granta1620

to take with ——a1653

recognizance1657

agnite1694

recognizate1799

1600 H. Constable Discoverye Counterfecte Conf. 86 They dare not auouche their names, being ashamed to iustifie their ignoraunce in the common lawes of the realme & Crowne of Englande & Genealogies bi the which the right is to be trieds.

1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles xxi. 204 She shall tell thee all, when thou shalt kneele, and iustifie in knowledge, she is thy verie Princes.

?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xv. 110 The great God had a son, Whom he himself yet justifies.

†4.

a. transitive. To administer justice to; to try as a judge, to judge; to have jurisdiction over, rule, control, keep in order; to do justice to, treat justly. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > control > [verb (transitive)]

wieldeOE

redeOE

temperc1000

wisc1000

yemec1000

aweldc1175

guy13..

rule1340

attemperc1374

stightlea1375

justifya1393

governa1400

moder1414

control1495

moderate1534

rein1557

manage1560

sway1587

to bear (a rein) upon1603

bridle1615

ephorize1647

puppet1840

coact1855

boss1856

run1869

swing1873

society > morality > rightness or justice > [verb (transitive)]

justicec1300

justifya1393

to give (a person) his (her, etc.) due1577

society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > judging > judge or determine judicially [verb (transitive)] > judge (a person)

judgec1300

justicec1300

justifya1393

doomc1503

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) viii. l. 2996 Hem [sc. Clergie] oughte wel to justefie Thing which belongith to here cure, As forto praie.

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xix. l. 44 Þe iewes he iustified & tauȝte hem Þe lawe of lyf.

1449 Acts Parl. Scotl. (1814) II. 36/2 That al regaliteis..be..iustifiit be the Kingis Justice, quhil thai remayn in the Kingis handis.

a1475 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng. (Laud) (1885) 112 Thai..ordenyd the same reaume to be ruled and justified by suche lawes as thai all wolde assent vnto.

a1500 (c1400) St. Erkenwald (1977) l. 271 I iustifiet þis ioly toun..more þen fourty wynter.

1581 W. Lambarde Eirenarcha (1588) iii. ii. 338 Them that undertake for the partie, that he shall abide to be justified by law.

1607 J. Cowell Interpreter sig. Ee2/1 I..shall owe you fealty for the land that I hould of you in villenage, and shalbe iustified by you in body and goods.

1620 J. Wilkinson Treat. Statutes conc. Coroners & Sherifes (new ed.) 12 [The Statute] giveth power to Forresters, Parkers, and Warreners to kill the offendors if they will not be justified.

b. intransitive. To administer justice, to judge. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > judging > judge or act as judge [verb (intransitive)]

deemc825

sitOE

justifya1400

judgec1400

to stand in judgement against1558

adjudicate1789

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 150 Hou craftili he [sc. Solomon] did iustifie.

†5. transitive. To improve by discipline or punishment; to convict and punish; to punish in accordance with law or justice; esp. (Scottish) to put to death, execute. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > punishment > [verb (transitive)]

threac897

tighta1000

beswinkc1175

punisha1325

chastise1362

paina1375

justifya1393

wage1412

reformc1450

chasten1526

thwart over thumba1529

chastifyc1540

amerce?1577

follow1579

to rap (a person) on the knuckles (also fingers)1584

finea1616

mulcta1620

fita1625

vindicate1632

trounce1657

reward1714

tawse1790

sort1815

to let (a person) have it1823

visit1836

to catch or get Jesse1839

to give, get goss1840

to have ita1848

to take (a person) to the woodshed1882

to give (one) snuff1890

soak1892

give1906

to weigh off1925

to tear down1938

zap1961

slap1968

society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > execute [verb (transitive)]

slayc1175

to put to deatha1450

to hang, draw, and quarter1465

strikec1480

execute1483

justify1531

execution1565

scaffold1716

to have or get one's gruel1797

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 1250 Forto justefie His [sc. Inobedience's] herte, I not what mihte availe.

a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 5987 Fadirs and modirs sal rekken þat tyde..And loverdes alswa of þair men..Þe whilk þai wald noght iustify.

a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xvi. l. 318 Thanne Axede him Nasciens..Whi that so sore Iustefyed he were.

c1450 (c1440) S. Scrope tr. C. de Pisan Epist. of Othea (Longleat) (1904) 13 He that is a rytewyse iusticer fryst shulde iustifie hym selph, ffor he that iustifies not hym self is not worthi to iustifye anothir.

c1500 Balfour's Practicks (1754) 596 Thay beand swa convict, sall be justifyit to the deid thairfoir.

1531 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Chron. Scotl. (1941) II. 25 v c of thaim tane, quham he gart justefy, as thevis.

1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 353 To iustefie and punishe them for their offenses.

1650 J. Jones Judges Judged 92 Suffering no other Judges to admonish, or Justifie any offendors at home.

1678 G. Mackenzie Laws & Customes Scotl. xxvii. 282 They who falsifies money, or counterfeits the Kings Irons, are to be justified (id est punished) according to the old Law.

1700 J. Collier Second Def. Short View Eng. Stage 137 In Scotland they say when a Man is Hanged, he's Justified.

1821 Ld. Byron Marino Faliero (2nd issue) v. i. 133 Let them be justified: and leave exposed Their wavering relics, in the place of judgment.

1860 C. Innes Scotl. in Middle Ages vi. 182 The murderer taken red-hand..was ‘justified’..without any unnecessary or inconvenient delays of process.

1897 W. Beatty Secretar 11 Now I would gang..to the Grass Market to see some poor wretch justified.

a. transitive. Of a person or body: to show or maintain the justice or reasonableness of (an action, claim, etc.); to give a justification for; to defend as right or proper.Formerly also with infinitive as object.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > immunity or exemption from liability > justification > justify [verb (transitive)] > vindicate > by argument

excusec1315

defend1340

propugnc1429

justify1477

recommend1602

asserta1643

1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 69^v And another said all getting may not be iustified ne helth may not be glotonie.

1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. vij He aunswered, that he woulde iustifye that, that he had done, eyther in present disputation, or by writinge.

1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. 58 How can they justifie to have turn'd these domestick privileges into the barre of a proud judiciall court.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 26 That..I may assert th' Eternal Providence, And justifie the wayes of God to men.

1704 W. Penn in Mem. Hist. Soc. Pennsylvania (1870) IX. 357 I justify not my son's folly.

1776 J. O. Justamond tr. G. T. F. Raynal Philos. Hist. Europeans in Indies III. xiii. 264 Upon what principle can she justify those [wars] in which her exorbitant ambition, or ill-founded apprehensions, have engaged her?

1809 S. T. Coleridge Friend 10 Aug. 44 If the assertor of the indifferency of Truth and Falsehood in their own natures, attempt to justify his position.

1868 M. Pattison Suggestions Acad. Organisation v. 148 We have no longer the difficult task of justifying science in the eyes of the nation.

1884 F. Temple Relations Relig. & Sci. (1885) v. 155 All who thus claim supernatural authority must, of course, justify their claim.

1918 W. B. Maxwell Mirror & Lamp xxxix. 316 He..went on as though to justify what he had said.

1946 Life 25 Feb. 20/2 Furtwängler..regretted that there is no tribunal before which he could be given a chance to justify his actions before the American public.

2001 N.Y. Times 29 July iii. 1/4 With the main argument for repricings..now demonstrably false, it will be fun to see how companies justify these shameful tactics in the future.

b. transitive. Of an event, decision, etc.: to support the truth or value of, validate; to provide a reason for, warrant, necessitate; to prove (an action or reaction) to have been right, proper, or reasonable.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > make reasonable [verb (transitive)]

to bring (a person) to reasona1400

justify?a1500

rationalize1665

society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > immunity or exemption from liability > justification > justify [verb (transitive)]

righteousOE

betell1048

justify?a1500

honest1598

warrant1671

righta1691

?a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Sheep & Dog l. 1250 in Poems (1981) 51 Off this sentence, allace, quhat sall I say, Quhilk dampnit hes the selie innocent, And iustifyit the wrangous iugement?

a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1537) f. 142 The grudge of them, that be ylle, iustifieth the iustice and sentence of theym, that be good.

1585 T. Bilson True Difference Christian Subiection iii. 398 Men haue raised tumults in al ages, and that doth iustifie rebellion in you, no more than [etc.].

1658 J. Bramhall Consecration Protestant Bishops Justified iv. 48 This very necessity had..iustified the Act.

1732 J. Arbuthnot Pract. Rules of Diet iv. 419 Those Reasons seem to justify Bleeding.

1743 E. Young Complaint: Night the Fourth 19 'Tis Guilt alone can justify His Death.

1813 W. Scott Rokeby i. viii. 12 Much in the stranger's mien appears, To justify suspicious fears.

1849 H. Binney Corr. & Remarks Bishop Doane's Signature 74 I hope his relations to the parties..justified what he did, without any nice scanning of the authority.

1891 Speaker 2 May 526/2 The vast circle of his readers justified his complacency by their applause.

1922 J. A. Williamson Short Hist. Brit. Expansion iii. iv. 192 They divided the corn lands into individual lots as the only means of coping with the chronic scarcity. The result justified their decision.

1993 P. Michaelson Secret Attachments 60 The degree to which you react negatively is usually not justified by circumstances.

2004 R. C. Byrd Losing Amer. vii. 172 People were going to die in this action, and I wanted evidence that justified our invasion of Iraq.

c. transitive. To adjudge to be just or reasonable; to approve or approve of; to ratify.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > statement > ratification or confirmation > confirm or ratify [verb (transitive)]

confirm1297

ratify1357

endoss1381

approve1413

roborate?a1475

establish1533

justify1596

firm1599

rate?1611

affeera1616

tie1623

convalidate1656

sanction1778

accredit1826

countersign1840

endorse1847

1596 E. Coote Eng. Schoole-maister 86/1 Iustifie, approoue.

1660 Exact Accompt Daily Proc. Parl. No. 55. 591 Ordered, That Parliament doth Justifie and approve of what General Monck hath done in taking up horses, and in his marching into England.

1682 N. Grew Anat. Plants Pref. sig. A3^v I was glad to see it [sc. a book] so far justify'd by that Illustrious Society.

1726 Bp. J. Butler 15 Serm. xi. 217 God himself will in the End justify their Taste, and support their Cause.

1795 Guthrie's New Syst. Mod. Geogr. (rev. ed.) II. 31 They justify the taste of Horace in classing him with the author of the Iliad.

1858 F. Lancelott Queens of Eng. & their Times II. 840/1 The parliament justified the King's instructions, but voted the execution in Glencoe to have been a barbarous massacre.

1890 N.Y. State Reporter 28 768 He might be liable to account for the value of the securities if his action in making the sale was not justified or ratified.

2004 Congress. Rec. 9 July 14996/2 The impetus is on Congress to specifically defund these agency-approved acquisitions, rather than on the agencies to ask Congress to specifically approve and justify them.

d. transitive. To make lawful, legitimize.

ΘΚΠ

society > law > rule of law > [verb (transitive)] > legalize

leala1375

legitimate1596

civilize1643

legitimize1646

justify1651

legalize1652

legitimatize1693

decriminalize1972

1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxii. 117 Whatsoever is commanded by the Soveraign Power, is as to the Subject..justified by the Command.

1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey II. vi. 346 Till..public nuptials justify the bride.

1834 Mirror of Parl. (2nd Sess., 11th Parl.) 1 217/2 The King's prerogative justified any grant that his bounty, nay, his caprice, might think fit to bestow.

1887 Western Reporter 8 67/1 The failure of one party to comply with a contract justifies the other party to treat it as rescinded, and to take steps accordingly.

1960 F. S. Sengstock Annexation iii. 55 The petition or ordinance serves the purpose of a legal pleading, presenting such allegations of facts as to justify judicial decision to annex territory.

2004 V. A. Kahn Wayward Contracts i. 7 Milton was equally shocking because his version of contract justified revoking consent from an ostensibly legitimate ruler.

7. Law.

a. Of a defendant: to show or maintain sufficient reason in court for having committed the act to be answered for; to offer a defence that the act was lawful.

(a) intransitive.

ΘΚΠ

society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > pleading > plead [verb (intransitive)] > justify

justifyc1523

avow1540

c1523 J. Rastell Expos. Terminorum Legum Anglorum sig. B.1/2 He that hath takyn it shall iustifye in his ple for what cause he toke it.

1529 Act 21 Hen. VIII c. 19 §2 The Lorde..may avowe or his Baylyffe or servaunt make conysaunce or justifye for takyng of the said dystresses upon the same landes..alegyng in the said avourie conysaunce and justificacyon the same Maners Landes and Tenementes to be holdin of hym.

1591 in F. J. Furnivall Child-marriages, Divorces, & Ratifications Diocese Chester (1897) 150 The said Smith..did arreste the said Roger Dod..and beinge charged to be a wronge, and contrary to the liberties and charters of this citie, iustifieth to be lawfull.

1648 J. March Reports 21 If several Trespasses are done to me, and I bring Trespass, and the Defendant justifie for one or two, and sayeth nothing to the other, that the whole Plea is naught.

1719 Baron & Feme (ed. 2) xxix. 356 In Trespass the Defendant justified by Licence to the Defendant for himself and his Wife, to inhabit there.

a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. ii. 287 If a man be impeached for beating another, he may justify by shewing it was done in his own necessary defence: if for false imprisonment, he may justify under the warrant of a lawful magistrate.

1820 W. Selwyn Abridgm. Law Nisi Prius II. (ed. 5) xxxii. 1118 The defendant cannot plead any plea, except to justify or disclaim.

1898 J. Mews Digest Eng. Case Law VIII. 558 The accused justified under a supposed right on the part of the public to fish in that water.

1931 Michigan Law Rev. 29 451 The charge was a prosecution for assault upon on arresting officer and the defendant justified on the allegation that the arrest was unlawful because the offense charged was only petit larceny and the officer had no warrant.

1990 P. F. Carter-Ruck Mem. Libel Lawyer xx. 143 If the other party state that they are going to justify, an application for an injunction will fail, because of course one is allowed to publish the truth.

(b) transitive.

ΘΚΠ

society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > pleading > maintain by argument in court [verb (transitive)] > show good reason for

aver1490

justify1540

1540 R. Taverner Princ. Lawes Customes & Estatutes Eng. sig. I.viiiv The lorde maye auowe or his baylyffe or seruante may make conisance or iustifie the taking vpon the same landes.

a1628 J. Doddridge Lawyers Light (1629) 70 A man may iustifie his going into another mans ground in time of war to make a Bulwarke in defence of the Realm.

1648 J. March Reports 4 Where the King is party, in some cases his Officers may justifie the breaking of a house, but not in the case of a common person.

1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. xiv, 429 A master like~wise may justify an assault in defence of his servant, and a servant in defence of his master.

1821 E. Cowen Treat. Civil Jurisdict. Justice of Peace in State N.-Y. vi. 497 This plea admits the trespass, and is conclusive evidence that the defendant means to rely upon the title only, to justify the trespass.

1893 Weekly Notes 28 67/2 The appellant could not justify his attempt to force an entrance, and was rightly convicted of an assault.

1902 W. Mack & H. P. Nash Cycl. Law & Procedure III. 1083 (note) Where a battery is not mere matter of aggravation, a sufficient plea must either confess or justify the battery.

1942 Trans. Grotius Soc. 28 30 The accused justified the Orsini attempt. The charge was withdrawn before the trial.

2000 J. M. Feinman Law 101 viii. 273 Can either group justify the trespass and destruction of property by appeal to the necessity of protecting unborn life in the first case, or of preventing nuclear war in the second?

b. To satisfy a court that one has sufficient funds to provide bail for a person accused of a crime. Now chiefly historical.

(a) transitive in to justify bail.

ΚΠ

1692 [implied in: Act 4 Will. & M. c. 5. §2 The Justices..shall make such Rules..for the justifying of such Bails..as to them shall seem meet.].

1705 K. D'Anvers Gen. Abridgm. Common Law I. 682 Where, how, and to whom Commissions may be granted to take Bail in the Country,..and how such Bail shall be justified.

1780 Newgate Cal. V. 49 They..justified bail for sums to a considerable amount, though they were not possessed of property to the value of twenty shillings.

1839 Times 3 Jan. 7/4 One of them was a member of the legal profession, and two others had justified bail to the amount of 700l.

1880 Standard 9 Apr. 6/1 Bail for the husband was put in and justified.

1910 Jrnl. Hist. Apr. 177 Making out the bonds and justifying bail necessarily consumed considerable time.

2005 J. C. Chaturvedi Acad. Dict. Law & Legislation 240 Justifying bail, practice, the production of bail in court.

(b) transitive (reflexive).

ΚΠ

1724 W. Bohun Practising Attorney 6 The Defendant is to put in better Bail, or the Cognizors must justify themselves in open Court.

1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. xix. 291 The bail..must justify themselves in court..by swearing themselves house-keepers, and each of them to be worth double the sum for which they are bail, after payment of all their debts.

1857 W. R. Cole Law & Pract. in Ejectment App., 721 It is ordered that the sureties put in for the defendant in this action, who have this day justified themselves in court, be allowed, and the recognizance filed.

1903 T. Rolin & G. M. L. Innes Pract.Supreme Court New South Wales at Common Law 410 No person shall be permitted to justify himself as good and sufficient bail for any defendant if such person has been indemnified for so doing by the Solicitor concerned for any such defendant.

2005 J. C. Chaturvedi Acad. Dict. Law & Legislation 240 Justifying bail, practice, the production of bail in court, who there justify themselves against the exception of the plaintiff.

ΘΚΠ

society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > bailing or bail > bail [verb (intransitive)] > justify bail

justifya1754

a1754 J. Strange Rep. Cases (1755) 2 821 By the course of the court it is sufficient if they justify in double what is really due.

1776 J. Burrow Rep. Court King's Bench 4 2526 The Sum he was required to justify in, was 9000l.

1791 Viner's Gen. Abridgm. Law & Equity (ed. 2) I. 259 In trover of 2 heads of vetches, &c. the defendant justified by the command of H. to whom part of the land belonged on which the vetches did grow.

1819 J. F. Archbold Pract. Court King's Bench I. i. i. i. 85 The court allowed the bail to appear and justify by their own attorney.

1922 Public Laws & Resol. N. Carolina: Extra Session 1921 147 Arrest a defendant in a civil action and taking bail, including Arrest and bail in attendant to justify, and all services connected therewith. one dollar and fifty cents.

1995 Philippines Justice Syst. & National Police Handbk. 74 Every surety shall justify by affidavit taken before the judge, and shall be required to describe the property given as security.

8. Chiefly Printing.

a. transitive. To adjust to an exact shape, size, or position; to fit or arrange exactly; spec. (in type-founding) to adjust (a matrix, or part of one) to make the sides level and square and the impression of the required depth. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > printing > type founding > [verb (transitive)] > form into correct matrix

justify1556

the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > adaptation or adjustment > adapt or adjust [verb (transitive)] > exactly or precisely

justify1556

repair1691

register1887

society > communication > printing > preparatory processes > composing > compose [verb (transitive)] > adjust to fit evenly

justify1672

1556 R. Record Castle of Knowl. 35 By true woorkinge to iustifie your Globe, which fyrste maye bee made as rounde, as any Turner can doo it, and then shall your instrument..correct it exactlye if it be amysse.

1594 R. Ashley tr. L. le Roy Interchangeable Course ii. f. 21 ^v They iustify their matrices on moulds of yron.

1672 T. Marshall Let. 9 Feb. in H. Hart Cent. Typogr. Oxf. (1900) 167/1 He undertakes to justify Matrices, but not cut Punctions... I suspend y^e urging of y^e Matrices to be justifyed by Mr. Van Dijke.

1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 153 Justifying of Matrices is, 1. to make the Face of the Sunken Letter, lie an exact designed depth below the Face of the Matrice, and on all its sides equally deep from the Face of the Matrice... 3. It is to Justifie both the sides, viz. the Right and left-sides of a Matrice to an exact thickness.

1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 281 Justifying the Head is to put into the Mortesses in the Cheeks..an equal and convenient thickness of..square pieces of Felt, Pastboards, or Scaboards..that when the Press-man Pulls, the Tennants of the Head shall have an equal Horizontal level Check.

1771 J. Kettilby Let. 27 Apr. in B. Franklin Papers (1974) XVIII. 87 1s. per Matrice if only struck to a proper depth but if justified and adjusted one and all to an equal depth and straight in the line 1s. 6d.

1797 Encycl. Brit. VII. 381/1 Before we proceed to the sinking and justifying of the matrices, we must provide a mould to justify them by.

1900 H. Hart Cent. Typogr. Pref. p. viii Nowadays a type-founder desiring to enlarge the number of his founts, would be able..to buy ‘strikes’, which when justified would become matrices.

1913 Printing Trade News (New York) 20 Dec. 51/1 Forms were sent the electrotyper which were so badly justified they could not be put on a press.

b. transitive. spec. Now also Computing. To adjust (a line of type, a margin, †a letter) for correct alignment; to adjust spacing along (a line of type or text) to fill or fit a prescribed measure so that adjacent lines are of equal length; to arrange (a body of text) into lines of equal length. Also intransitive with object understood.

ΚΠ

1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 153 It is to set or Justifie the Foot-line of the Letter exactly in Line.

1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 212 Justifying (in Compositers Language) is the stiff or loose filling of his Stick, for if it be fill'd very stiff with Letters or Spaces, they say it is hard Justified, if loosly, they say it is loose Justified.

1699 A. Boyer Royal Dict. ii. sig. Ccc2/3 Justify,..To Justify the Lines (amongst Printers).

1755 J. Smith Printer's Gram. iv. 54 Great care must be taken to justify the initial letter, and the Small Capitals, so as to stand exactly in line with each other.

1773 A. Vieyra Dict. Portuguese & Eng. Langs. I. at Justificar (With printers) to justify, to make the lines they compose even.

1824 J. Johnson Typographia II. iii. 66 To enable the compositor to space even, and to justify with nicety, they [sc. spaces] are cast to various thicknesses.

1824 J. Johnson Typographia II. vi. 124 Engaged..in taking care to space and to justify our matter.

1844 World we live In 1 15/1 The new type-setting machine..will set types and spaces, but it will not justify.

1892 Brit. Printer No. 26. 19 Ample knowledge of how to justify is not yet the common property of printers.

1948 Pop. Mech. Oct. 346/2 Typewritten copy with both margins justified is produced by an electric typewriter with a reel attachment.

1960 B. L. Ullman Origin & Devel. Humanistic Script ii. 30 Little attention is paid to justifying the margins.

1971 A. Kent et al. Encycl. Libr. & Information Sci. V. 513 Passes through the computer to merge the original tape and the corrections, to specify type faces and sizes, and to justify the lines.

2009 B. Goodale et al. Let's go: Paris (ed. 15) 131 Students have lost multiple points for forgetting to justify the margin (always justify!).

c. intransitive. Of type or text: to be level, to align; to admit of being justified. With with.

ΚΠ

1828 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. (at cited word) Types of different sizes will not justify with each other.

1876 C. A. Cutter Rules Dict. Catal. in Public Libraries U.S.A.: Special Rep.: Pt. II (Dept. Interior, Bureau Educ.) 63 The title is in long primer type, the parenthesis is in pearl, of which two lines will justify with one of the long primer.

1912 Monotype Syst. (Lanston Monotype Machine Co.) xxii. 76 These extra matrices are carried in the proper unit rows to make the characters cast from them justify with the figures.

2003 S. Carliner Training Design Basics (2004) viii. 154 To make sure that the text justifies on both margins, the computer must either stretch the letters or add many extra spaces.

Phrases

Proverb. the end justifies the means. [Compare classical Latin exitus ācta probat the outcome sanctions the means (Ovid Heroides 2. 85).]

ΚΠ

1583 G. Babington Very Fruitfull Expos. Commaundem. 260 The ende good, doeth not by and by make the meanes good.]

1718 M. Prior Hans Carvel 67 The end must justifie the means; He only sins who ill intends.

1761 Authentic Mem. Portuguese Inquisition xxxii. 439 If the end did not justify the means, the subtilest Jesuit would..be much at a loss how to justify it.

1805 Evening Fire-side 13 Mar. 143/1 A writer may have very ‘benevolent views’; but the end does not justify the means he or she may improperly make use of to promote it.

1892 W. P. Trent William Gilmore Simms i. 10 The end justified the means with the young student, and deception was resorted to.

1941 ‘H. Bailey’ Smiling Corpse 238 ‘The police don't like to have their bodies moved.’..‘In this case the end justifies the means.’

2003 Church Times 31 Oct. 9/3 Whilst there still might be some reservations about the means, the end justified them.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	justify
释义	justifyv. Brit. /ˈdʒʌstᵻfʌɪ/, U.S. /ˈdʒəstəˌfaɪ/ Forms: Middle English iustefiȝe, Middle English 1600s justyfy, Middle English–1500s iustefie, Middle English–1500s iustefy, Middle English–1500s iustefye, Middle English–1500s iustyfye, Middle English–1500s justyfye, Middle English–1600s iustifie, Middle English–1600s iustifye, Middle English–1600s justefie, Middle English–1600s justifye, Middle English–1700s iustify, Middle English–1700s justifie, Middle English– justify, 1500s iustyffy, 1500s iustyfy, 1500s–1600s iustyfie, 1600s justefy; Scottish pre-1700 iustefe, pre-1700 iustefy, pre-1700 iustefye, pre-1700 iustiefie, pre-1700 iustiffie, pre-1700 iustifie, pre-1700 iustify, pre-1700 justefe, pre-1700 justefie, pre-1700 justefy, pre-1700 justife, pre-1700 justifie, pre-1700 justifye, pre-1700 justyfy, pre-1700 1700s– justify, 1800s justifee. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French justifier; Latin justificare. Etymology: < (i) Anglo-Norman justifyer, Anglo-Norman and Middle French justifier, justefier (French justifier ) to declare (a person) to be innocent or righteous, to absolve (a person) (12th cent. in Old French, originally and frequently in a theological context; also used reflexively (beginning of the 13th cent.); 1564 in specific Protestant use: compare note at justification n. 1), to bring (a person) to justice, to do justice to (a person), to show (a person) to be just or in the right (all 12th cent.), to convict and punish (13th cent.), to corroborate, prove, verify (an argument, statement, or opinion) (1368), (in printing) to adjust (a matrix) to make the sides level and square (1521), in Anglo-Norman also to offer a defence in court that (an act) was lawful (early 14th cent. or earlier), to rule, control (a country or people) (a1393 or earlier), and its etymon (ii) post-classical Latin justificare to treat with justice, to exonerate, vindicate, declare innocent, to make (a person) righteous by the grace of God (Vulgate), (of a claim) to establish (10th cent. in British sources), to correct, set right (from c1000 in British sources; from 13th cent. in continental sources), to bring to justice (11th cent.; from early 12th cent. in British sources), to judge, to administer justice (11th cent.), (reflexive) to stand trial (12th cent.; from 13th cent. in British sources), to condemn, execute (15th cent. in British sources) < classical Latin iūstus just adj. + -ficāre -fy suffix. Compare justification n.Compare Catalan justificar (1460), Spanish justificar (c1200), Portuguese justificar (15th cent.), Italian giustificare (a1342). In Middle English prefixed and unprefixed forms of the past participle are attested (see y- prefix). 1. Chiefly Theology (Christian Church). a. transitive. To absolve; to declare to be innocent or righteous; spec. to cause or declare to be free from the penalty of sin on the grounds of Christ's righteousness or by the infusion of grace. See justification n. 1. ΘΚΠ society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > grace > righteousness > make righteous [verb (transitive)] > justify justifya1382 society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > immunity or exemption from liability > justification > justify [verb (transitive)] > exculpate > in theology justifya1382 a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. v. 23 Wo..that iustefien [L. iustificatis] the vnpitous for ȝiftes. c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Rom. iii. 28 Forsothe we demen a man for to be iustifyed [L. iustificari] by feith, withouten workis of lawe. c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 700 (MED) Lorde..non lyuyande to þe is justyfyet. 1526 Bible (Tyndale) Rom. iv. 25 Jesus..Which was delivered for oure synnes, and rose agayne forto iustifye vs. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Exod. xxiii. 7 The innocent and righteous shalt thou not sley, for I iustifie not y^e vngodly. a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1954) VII. 228 Only thy good life can assure thy conscience, and the World, that thou art justified. a1740 D. Waterland Summary View Doctr. Justif. iv. 18 in Serm. Several Important Subj. (1742) II God..has made no Promise, or Covenant to justify Any One without the Use of Baptism. 1789 G. Townsend King's Recovery 22 As the Lord hath loved, so he hath justified and redeemed his Church and People. 1838 J. H. Newman Lect. Justif. xii. 325 God justified Abraham, and He glorified Elijah. 1857 G. Potessaro tr. P. G. Levshin Orthodox Doctr. Apostolic Eastern Church ii. xi. 93 How can human actions justify man, when he cannot justify himself, except after acknowledging that he is a sinner and worthy of Divine wrath? 1893 J. A. Beet Through Christ to God ii. xi. 95 Paul declares..that..God justifies those who believe; or something to the same effect. 1955 J. Murray Redempt. Accomplished & Appl. v. 129 This reflex or secondary act of faith is not the faith in view when we are said to be justified by faith and that this faith by which we are justified is the initial and primary act of faith in Jesus Christ. 2011 Church Times 23 Sept. 21/5 Paul's main purpose in Romans is to defend God against charges of acting unjustly in justifying sinners. b. intransitive. To confer or assure righteousness. ΚΠ c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Rom. viii. 34 God that iustifieth, who is it that condempneth? 1526 W. Tyndale Prol. Epist. Rom. sig. av^v Fayth only iustifyeth and bringeth the sprite and lust vn to the vttewarde good workes. 1550 J. Veron Godly Saiyngs Ep. Ded. sig. A.vi^v Yf the Sacramente dothe not iustyfye, and brynge grace of it selfe, then it is but bare breade & wyne. 1689 W. Sherlock Pract. Disc. Death iii. 318 A baptized Christian must not always expect to be saved by such Grace, as saves and justifies in Baptism. 1741 R. Rawlin Christ Righteousness of his People vii. 300 A faith as is attended with real holiness, and is productive of true obedience; this and no other is the faith that justifies. 1845 G. Cole Threefold Cord iv. 112 While faith..is connected with the blood that justifies on the one hand, it is equally consistent with the grace that justifies on the other. 1859 J. Cumming Ruth viii. 138 It is the office of Jesus to pardon, to justify, to welcome. 1901 E. H. Plumptre Gen. Epist. St. James 77 His [sc. St. Paul's] teaching..led men to think that they might be justified by faith, not in God who justifies, but in a dogma about justification. 1938 R. B. Hoyle tr. K. Barth Holy Ghost & Christian Life ii. 57 Justifying faith is ‘concrete faith, composed or incarnate’. Not because it is this does it justify. But it justifies not without, so that it is this. 2012 A. E. McGrath Reformation Thought (ed. 4) vii. 121 Luther argues that a faith which is content to believe in the historical reliability of the gospels is not a faith which justifies. 2. a. transitive. To show (a person) to be just or in the right; to prove or maintain the righteousness, justness, or innocence of; to exonerate (with against, from, of a charge, etc.). Also reflexive. ΘΚΠ society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > immunity or exemption from liability > justification > justify [verb (transitive)] > vindicate to-deraignc1320 justifya1382 wreakc1400 vindicate1641 a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Psalms l. 6 That thou be iustefied [L. iustificeris] in thi woordis, and ouercome whan thou art demed. a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 99 Þou..iustifiest me in all my disposicions. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Ecclus. vii. 5 Iustifie not thy self before God. 1600 E. Blount tr. G. F. di Conestaggio Hist. Uniting Portugall to Castill 224 Some of his friendes, laboured to iustifie him. 1660 R. Baxter Life of Faith 44 How the Saints will be magnified,..and be justified against all the accusations of Satan, and calumnies of wicked men. 1679 R. Baxter Which is True Church? ii. 82 The Papists themselves ordinarily justifie them from that charge, and confess, that the Christians of those Countries are honest harmless men. 1701 tr. J. Le Clerc Lives Primitive Fathers 142 He..justified himself of the Accusation touching the Arm of Arsinius. 1744 J. Campbell Lives Admirals III. i. 46 He not only justified himself very warmly on that Point, but concluded his Defence with saying, that his Conduct had saved the English Fleet. 1784 T. Percival Moral & Literary Diss. 181 Mr. Pope, who knew him well, justified him from the imputation of hypocrisy. 1815 Times 27 Nov. 2/5 The first witness for the defendant..justified M. the Count Lavalette against the charge of having held intelligence with Buonaparte. 1850 O. L. Barbour Rep. Supreme Court N.-Y. 4 472 The prisoner was not allowed to justify himself under an apprehension of serious bodily harm. 1887 Austral. Jrnl. Apr. 443/2 Your grandfather..was justified of the crime some had laid to his charge. 1906 F. Macdonald J. J. Rousseau I. iv. 50 The publication of the Correspondance Littéraire would serve to rehabilitate Grimm, and to justify him from the charge of being a gratuitous calumniator of Rousseau. 1958 L. Lockert Stud. French-classical Trag. i. 99 Did Corneille..ironically pretend to justify her..for those who had delighted in the characters of Andromaque? 1997 M. Osiel Mass Atrocity, Collective Memory, & Law 44 One party to the debate, the defendants, are forced to justify themselves, in response to prosecutorial accusation. b. transitive. Of a state of things, circumstance, etc.: to be evidence or argument for the righteousness, justness, or innocence of (a person or body). Often in passive: to have good justification, to be in the right. With in an action. ΘΚΠ society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > immunity or exemption from liability > justification > justify [verb (transitive)] > justify or sanction > specifically of things authorize1589 justify1603 warrant1654 exculpate1706 1603 R. Rogers Seuen Treat. ii. xvii. 184 If we should speake of mens faults with bewailing them..; yet could we not be iustified in so doing, except we haue vsed all meanes which we know, to amend them. ?a1645 A. Stafford Just Apol. in Life Blessed Virgin (1860) p. xxiv The profane Idolatrizing of this Superlative Saint, will iustifie me in all eyes. 1709 F. Atterbury Serm. St. Brigit's 4 The Publick Burthens..will not justify us in giving Nothing. 1775 E. Burke Speech Resol. for Concil. Colonies 48 I think then I am..justified in the sixth and last resolution. 1810 Gentleman's Mag. July 66/1 Parliament was justified in looking to this fund as affording a prospect of defraying the interest of the Loan of the year. 1860 C. Dickens Uncommerc. Traveller in All Year Round 29 Sept. 588/2 The pair have a dejected consciousness that they are not justified in appearing on the surface of the earth. 1919 K. Pearson in C. Goring Eng. Convict 12 The use by the formulator of a thoroughly unscientific method does not justify us in rejecting his hypothesis. 1960 G. S. Hawkins in D. H. Menzel Radio Noise Spectrum v. 87 The correlations described by Kalashnikov had no significance, and..he was not justified in claiming that meteors produced magnetic effects. 1998 R. Shelly Falling in Love with Jesus (2003) 171 The Pharisee's loud public prayer may well have justified him in the eyes of his own kind and before the crowd who heard him boast of his own obnoxious goodness. c. intransitive with reflexive meaning. Cf. earlier sense 7a(a). rare. ΚΠ 1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. 86 Neither Monke, woman, nor Clerke was by Law to justifie by battaile in their own person. 1908 B. Stoker Lady Athlyne xii. 153 He had told his women folk that the car would be ready, and he wished to justify. 2009 R. Cyr-Quasmi Labels xx. 153 My mind wants to justify by speaking words. 3. a. transitive. To make good (an argument, statement, or opinion); to confirm or support by attestation or evidence; to corroborate, prove, verify. With simple object, or (less commonly) clause as object, object and infinitive, or †object and complement.In later use often influenced by sense 6. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > testing > proof, demonstration > prove, demonstrate [verb (transitive)] i-sothea925 soothec950 fanda1000 kitheOE betell1048 showc1175 prove?c1225 treousec1275 stablisha1325 approve1340 verifyc1386 justifya1393 tryc1412 answer?a1425 appreve?c1450 to make gooda1470 convictc1475 averifyc1503 arguea1513 find1512 pree1515 comprobate1531 demonstrate1538 conclude1549 convince1555 argument1558 evict1571 avoucha1593 evidencea1601 remonstrate1601 clear1605 attaint1609 monstrate1609 evince1610 evince1611 improve1613 remonstrance1621 to make out1653 ascertain1670 to bring off1674 to make (something) to through1675 render1678 substantiatea1691 establisha1704 to bring out1727 realize1763 validate1775 the mind > attention and judgement > testing > attestation, witness, evidence > attest, bear witness [verb (transitive)] > support, corroborate fasteneOE i-sothea925 sustainc1325 witness1362 approvec1380 confirmc1384 affirma1393 justifya1393 to bear outa1475 corrobore1485 uphold1485 nourisha1522 underpinc1522 to countenance outa1529 favoura1530 soothe1544 strengthen1548 comfort1593 second1596 accredit1598 evidencea1601 warrantise1600 compact1608 back1612 thickena1616 accreditate1654 shoulder1674 support1691 corroborate1706 carry1835 to give (also lend) colour1921 a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. l. 1634 Rethoriqes eloquences..Wherof a man schal justifie Hise wordes in disputeisoun. a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. ciiii. f. xli So that I myght somwhat Iustyfie my reporte by some Auctour of Auctorite. 1559 in J. Strype Ann. Reformation (1709) I. ii. App. xi. 34 This shalbe justified owt of Irenæus. a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) v. i. 130 Were I so minded I heere could..iustifie you Traitors. View more context for this quotation a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 41 For who can justify, that Nature there Is ty'd to the same Laws, she acts by here? 1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. v. xxxiii. 339 He justified the Notion to be innocent. 1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall II. xxvi. 565 The narratives of antiquity are justified by the experience of modern times. 1832 Morning Watch 5 440 He had jumped to his conclusions on insufficient grounds, and then sought for arguments to justify his opinion. 1884 Manch. Examiner 6 May 5/3 It would be hard to justify this particular assertion by an appeal to facts. 1903 Amer. Jrnl. Semitic Langs. & Lit. 19 206 Such a supposition is not justified by the facts. 1917 Pacific Reporter 145 181/1 It was sufficient to justify and prove that the injury also caused her to suffer from ‘flat foot’. 1980 O. A. Johnson in P. A. French et al. Stud. Epistemology 123 In demonstrating its truth, we justified it to be true. By justifying the truth of this proposition, we justified the truth of the proposition ‘Someone can justify something to be true’. 2004 J. Stroud Golem's Eye 34 He found himself trying to justify his statement, when he should have kept silent. †b. transitive. To assert as the truth, sometimes in justification; to affirm, aver. With object and infinitive, simple object, or clause as object. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > statement > assertion or affirmation > [verb (transitive)] vowc1330 anferme1340 affirma1382 willa1382 threapc1386 avow1393 to make oneself strongc1425 maintain?c1430 protest1440 traverse1491 assure1509 ferma1525 verc1540 profess1542 enforce1579 justify1579 aver1582 to take on1583 asserta1604 will1614 assevera1618 positive1656 autume1661 declare1709 obtesta1722 predicate1782 asseveratea1847 1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 456 The which would not be beleued..for the vncredible force and power of armies which was iustified to come. 1617 F. Bacon Let. to King (1763) 131 I disliked it the more, because he justified it to be law; which was his old song. 1658 F. Osborne Trad. Mem. Reign Elizabeth 99 in Hist. Mem. Reigns Elizabeth & Iames An Inquisition..which a Cursiter did about that time justify he had inrolled. 1680 J. Rushworth Hist. Coll.: Second Pt. II. App. 72 Alexander Hyde, and Humphry Hyde justified it to be a true Certificate. 1750 J. S. Gardiner Art & Pleasures of Hare-hunting ii. 14 The Doctor..to this Day relates and justifies the Truth of every Circumstance I have mentioned. 1873 J. Timbs Bk. Mod. Legal Anecd. 138/2 Jefferies thereupon went on, inveighing against what Attwood had published; and Attwood justified it to be in defence of the English Constitution. †c. transitive. To acknowledge as a fact, or as true or genuine. With simple object or clause as object. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > statement > acknowledgement or recognition > acknowledge or recognize [verb (transitive)] yknowOE knowc1175 yatec1175 knowledgec1225 vow1338 granta1387 kenc1400 admit1415 reknowledgec1450 acknowledge?1526 agnize1535 recognize1537 recognoscea1550 justify1600 granta1620 to take with ——a1653 recognizance1657 agnite1694 recognizate1799 1600 H. Constable Discoverye Counterfecte Conf. 86 They dare not auouche their names, being ashamed to iustifie their ignoraunce in the common lawes of the realme & Crowne of Englande & Genealogies bi the which the right is to be trieds. 1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles xxi. 204 She shall tell thee all, when thou shalt kneele, and iustifie in knowledge, she is thy verie Princes. View more context for this quotation ?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xv. 110 The great God had a son, Whom he himself yet justifies. †4. a. transitive. To administer justice to; to try as a judge, to judge; to have jurisdiction over, rule, control, keep in order; to do justice to, treat justly. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > authority > control > [verb (transitive)] wieldeOE redeOE temperc1000 wisc1000 yemec1000 aweldc1175 guy13.. rule1340 attemperc1374 stightlea1375 justifya1393 governa1400 moder1414 control1495 moderate1534 rein1557 manage1560 sway1587 to bear (a rein) upon1603 bridle1615 ephorize1647 puppet1840 coact1855 boss1856 run1869 swing1873 society > morality > rightness or justice > [verb (transitive)] justicec1300 justifya1393 to give (a person) his (her, etc.) due1577 society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > judging > judge or determine judicially [verb (transitive)] > judge (a person) judgec1300 justicec1300 justifya1393 doomc1503 a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) viii. l. 2996 Hem [sc. Clergie] oughte wel to justefie Thing which belongith to here cure, As forto praie. c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xix. l. 44 Þe iewes he iustified & tauȝte hem Þe lawe of lyf. 1449 Acts Parl. Scotl. (1814) II. 36/2 That al regaliteis..be..iustifiit be the Kingis Justice, quhil thai remayn in the Kingis handis. a1475 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng. (Laud) (1885) 112 Thai..ordenyd the same reaume to be ruled and justified by suche lawes as thai all wolde assent vnto. a1500 (c1400) St. Erkenwald (1977) l. 271 I iustifiet þis ioly toun..more þen fourty wynter. 1581 W. Lambarde Eirenarcha (1588) iii. ii. 338 Them that undertake for the partie, that he shall abide to be justified by law. 1607 J. Cowell Interpreter sig. Ee2/1 I..shall owe you fealty for the land that I hould of you in villenage, and shalbe iustified by you in body and goods. 1620 J. Wilkinson Treat. Statutes conc. Coroners & Sherifes (new ed.) 12 [The Statute] giveth power to Forresters, Parkers, and Warreners to kill the offendors if they will not be justified. b. intransitive. To administer justice, to judge. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > judging > judge or act as judge [verb (intransitive)] deemc825 sitOE justifya1400 judgec1400 to stand in judgement against1558 adjudicate1789 a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 150 Hou craftili he [sc. Solomon] did iustifie. †5. transitive. To improve by discipline or punishment; to convict and punish; to punish in accordance with law or justice; esp. (Scottish) to put to death, execute. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > authority > punishment > [verb (transitive)] threac897 tighta1000 beswinkc1175 punisha1325 chastise1362 paina1375 justifya1393 wage1412 reformc1450 chasten1526 thwart over thumba1529 chastifyc1540 amerce?1577 follow1579 to rap (a person) on the knuckles (also fingers)1584 finea1616 mulcta1620 fita1625 vindicate1632 trounce1657 reward1714 tawse1790 sort1815 to let (a person) have it1823 visit1836 to catch or get Jesse1839 to give, get goss1840 to have ita1848 to take (a person) to the woodshed1882 to give (one) snuff1890 soak1892 give1906 to weigh off1925 to tear down1938 zap1961 slap1968 society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > execute [verb (transitive)] slayc1175 to put to deatha1450 to hang, draw, and quarter1465 strikec1480 execute1483 justify1531 execution1565 scaffold1716 to have or get one's gruel1797 a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 1250 Forto justefie His [sc. Inobedience's] herte, I not what mihte availe. a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 5987 Fadirs and modirs sal rekken þat tyde..And loverdes alswa of þair men..Þe whilk þai wald noght iustify. a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xvi. l. 318 Thanne Axede him Nasciens..Whi that so sore Iustefyed he were. c1450 (c1440) S. Scrope tr. C. de Pisan Epist. of Othea (Longleat) (1904) 13 He that is a rytewyse iusticer fryst shulde iustifie hym selph, ffor he that iustifies not hym self is not worthi to iustifye anothir. c1500 Balfour's Practicks (1754) 596 Thay beand swa convict, sall be justifyit to the deid thairfoir. 1531 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Chron. Scotl. (1941) II. 25 v c of thaim tane, quham he gart justefy, as thevis. 1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 353 To iustefie and punishe them for their offenses. 1650 J. Jones Judges Judged 92 Suffering no other Judges to admonish, or Justifie any offendors at home. 1678 G. Mackenzie Laws & Customes Scotl. xxvii. 282 They who falsifies money, or counterfeits the Kings Irons, are to be justified (id est punished) according to the old Law. 1700 J. Collier Second Def. Short View Eng. Stage 137 In Scotland they say when a Man is Hanged, he's Justified. 1821 Ld. Byron Marino Faliero (2nd issue) v. i. 133 Let them be justified: and leave exposed Their wavering relics, in the place of judgment. 1860 C. Innes Scotl. in Middle Ages vi. 182 The murderer taken red-hand..was ‘justified’..without any unnecessary or inconvenient delays of process. 1897 W. Beatty Secretar 11 Now I would gang..to the Grass Market to see some poor wretch justified. 6. a. transitive. Of a person or body: to show or maintain the justice or reasonableness of (an action, claim, etc.); to give a justification for; to defend as right or proper.Formerly also with infinitive as object. ΘΚΠ society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > immunity or exemption from liability > justification > justify [verb (transitive)] > vindicate > by argument excusec1315 defend1340 propugnc1429 justify1477 recommend1602 asserta1643 1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 69^v And another said all getting may not be iustified ne helth may not be glotonie. 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. vij He aunswered, that he woulde iustifye that, that he had done, eyther in present disputation, or by writinge. 1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. 58 How can they justifie to have turn'd these domestick privileges into the barre of a proud judiciall court. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 26 That..I may assert th' Eternal Providence, And justifie the wayes of God to men. View more context for this quotation 1704 W. Penn in Mem. Hist. Soc. Pennsylvania (1870) IX. 357 I justify not my son's folly. 1776 J. O. Justamond tr. G. T. F. Raynal Philos. Hist. Europeans in Indies III. xiii. 264 Upon what principle can she justify those [wars] in which her exorbitant ambition, or ill-founded apprehensions, have engaged her? 1809 S. T. Coleridge Friend 10 Aug. 44 If the assertor of the indifferency of Truth and Falsehood in their own natures, attempt to justify his position. 1868 M. Pattison Suggestions Acad. Organisation v. 148 We have no longer the difficult task of justifying science in the eyes of the nation. 1884 F. Temple Relations Relig. & Sci. (1885) v. 155 All who thus claim supernatural authority must, of course, justify their claim. 1918 W. B. Maxwell Mirror & Lamp xxxix. 316 He..went on as though to justify what he had said. 1946 Life 25 Feb. 20/2 Furtwängler..regretted that there is no tribunal before which he could be given a chance to justify his actions before the American public. 2001 N.Y. Times 29 July iii. 1/4 With the main argument for repricings..now demonstrably false, it will be fun to see how companies justify these shameful tactics in the future. b. transitive. Of an event, decision, etc.: to support the truth or value of, validate; to provide a reason for, warrant, necessitate; to prove (an action or reaction) to have been right, proper, or reasonable. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > make reasonable [verb (transitive)] to bring (a person) to reasona1400 justify?a1500 rationalize1665 society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > immunity or exemption from liability > justification > justify [verb (transitive)] righteousOE betell1048 justify?a1500 honest1598 warrant1671 righta1691 ?a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Sheep & Dog l. 1250 in Poems (1981) 51 Off this sentence, allace, quhat sall I say, Quhilk dampnit hes the selie innocent, And iustifyit the wrangous iugement? a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1537) f. 142 The grudge of them, that be ylle, iustifieth the iustice and sentence of theym, that be good. 1585 T. Bilson True Difference Christian Subiection iii. 398 Men haue raised tumults in al ages, and that doth iustifie rebellion in you, no more than [etc.]. 1658 J. Bramhall Consecration Protestant Bishops Justified iv. 48 This very necessity had..iustified the Act. 1732 J. Arbuthnot Pract. Rules of Diet iv. 419 Those Reasons seem to justify Bleeding. 1743 E. Young Complaint: Night the Fourth 19 'Tis Guilt alone can justify His Death. 1813 W. Scott Rokeby i. viii. 12 Much in the stranger's mien appears, To justify suspicious fears. 1849 H. Binney Corr. & Remarks Bishop Doane's Signature 74 I hope his relations to the parties..justified what he did, without any nice scanning of the authority. 1891 Speaker 2 May 526/2 The vast circle of his readers justified his complacency by their applause. 1922 J. A. Williamson Short Hist. Brit. Expansion iii. iv. 192 They divided the corn lands into individual lots as the only means of coping with the chronic scarcity. The result justified their decision. 1993 P. Michaelson Secret Attachments 60 The degree to which you react negatively is usually not justified by circumstances. 2004 R. C. Byrd Losing Amer. vii. 172 People were going to die in this action, and I wanted evidence that justified our invasion of Iraq. c. transitive. To adjudge to be just or reasonable; to approve or approve of; to ratify. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > statement > ratification or confirmation > confirm or ratify [verb (transitive)] confirm1297 ratify1357 endoss1381 approve1413 roborate?a1475 establish1533 justify1596 firm1599 rate?1611 affeera1616 tie1623 convalidate1656 sanction1778 accredit1826 countersign1840 endorse1847 1596 E. Coote Eng. Schoole-maister 86/1 Iustifie, approoue. 1660 Exact Accompt Daily Proc. Parl. No. 55. 591 Ordered, That Parliament doth Justifie and approve of what General Monck hath done in taking up horses, and in his marching into England. 1682 N. Grew Anat. Plants Pref. sig. A3^v I was glad to see it [sc. a book] so far justify'd by that Illustrious Society. 1726 Bp. J. Butler 15 Serm. xi. 217 God himself will in the End justify their Taste, and support their Cause. 1795 Guthrie's New Syst. Mod. Geogr. (rev. ed.) II. 31 They justify the taste of Horace in classing him with the author of the Iliad. 1858 F. Lancelott Queens of Eng. & their Times II. 840/1 The parliament justified the King's instructions, but voted the execution in Glencoe to have been a barbarous massacre. 1890 N.Y. State Reporter 28 768 He might be liable to account for the value of the securities if his action in making the sale was not justified or ratified. 2004 Congress. Rec. 9 July 14996/2 The impetus is on Congress to specifically defund these agency-approved acquisitions, rather than on the agencies to ask Congress to specifically approve and justify them. d. transitive. To make lawful, legitimize. ΘΚΠ society > law > rule of law > [verb (transitive)] > legalize leala1375 legitimate1596 civilize1643 legitimize1646 justify1651 legalize1652 legitimatize1693 decriminalize1972 1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxii. 117 Whatsoever is commanded by the Soveraign Power, is as to the Subject..justified by the Command. 1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey II. vi. 346 Till..public nuptials justify the bride. 1834 Mirror of Parl. (2nd Sess., 11th Parl.) 1 217/2 The King's prerogative justified any grant that his bounty, nay, his caprice, might think fit to bestow. 1887 Western Reporter 8 67/1 The failure of one party to comply with a contract justifies the other party to treat it as rescinded, and to take steps accordingly. 1960 F. S. Sengstock Annexation iii. 55 The petition or ordinance serves the purpose of a legal pleading, presenting such allegations of facts as to justify judicial decision to annex territory. 2004 V. A. Kahn Wayward Contracts i. 7 Milton was equally shocking because his version of contract justified revoking consent from an ostensibly legitimate ruler. 7. Law. a. Of a defendant: to show or maintain sufficient reason in court for having committed the act to be answered for; to offer a defence that the act was lawful. (a) intransitive. ΘΚΠ society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > pleading > plead [verb (intransitive)] > justify justifyc1523 avow1540 c1523 J. Rastell Expos. Terminorum Legum Anglorum sig. B.1/2 He that hath takyn it shall iustifye in his ple for what cause he toke it. 1529 Act 21 Hen. VIII c. 19 §2 The Lorde..may avowe or his Baylyffe or servaunt make conysaunce or justifye for takyng of the said dystresses upon the same landes..alegyng in the said avourie conysaunce and justificacyon the same Maners Landes and Tenementes to be holdin of hym. 1591 in F. J. Furnivall Child-marriages, Divorces, & Ratifications Diocese Chester (1897) 150 The said Smith..did arreste the said Roger Dod..and beinge charged to be a wronge, and contrary to the liberties and charters of this citie, iustifieth to be lawfull. 1648 J. March Reports 21 If several Trespasses are done to me, and I bring Trespass, and the Defendant justifie for one or two, and sayeth nothing to the other, that the whole Plea is naught. 1719 Baron & Feme (ed. 2) xxix. 356 In Trespass the Defendant justified by Licence to the Defendant for himself and his Wife, to inhabit there. a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. ii. 287 If a man be impeached for beating another, he may justify by shewing it was done in his own necessary defence: if for false imprisonment, he may justify under the warrant of a lawful magistrate. 1820 W. Selwyn Abridgm. Law Nisi Prius II. (ed. 5) xxxii. 1118 The defendant cannot plead any plea, except to justify or disclaim. 1898 J. Mews Digest Eng. Case Law VIII. 558 The accused justified under a supposed right on the part of the public to fish in that water. 1931 Michigan Law Rev. 29 451 The charge was a prosecution for assault upon on arresting officer and the defendant justified on the allegation that the arrest was unlawful because the offense charged was only petit larceny and the officer had no warrant. 1990 P. F. Carter-Ruck Mem. Libel Lawyer xx. 143 If the other party state that they are going to justify, an application for an injunction will fail, because of course one is allowed to publish the truth. (b) transitive. ΘΚΠ society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > pleading > maintain by argument in court [verb (transitive)] > show good reason for aver1490 justify1540 1540 R. Taverner Princ. Lawes Customes & Estatutes Eng. sig. I.viiiv The lorde maye auowe or his baylyffe or seruante may make conisance or iustifie the taking vpon the same landes. a1628 J. Doddridge Lawyers Light (1629) 70 A man may iustifie his going into another mans ground in time of war to make a Bulwarke in defence of the Realm. 1648 J. March Reports 4 Where the King is party, in some cases his Officers may justifie the breaking of a house, but not in the case of a common person. 1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. xiv, 429 A master like~wise may justify an assault in defence of his servant, and a servant in defence of his master. 1821 E. Cowen Treat. Civil Jurisdict. Justice of Peace in State N.-Y. vi. 497 This plea admits the trespass, and is conclusive evidence that the defendant means to rely upon the title only, to justify the trespass. 1893 Weekly Notes 28 67/2 The appellant could not justify his attempt to force an entrance, and was rightly convicted of an assault. 1902 W. Mack & H. P. Nash Cycl. Law & Procedure III. 1083 (note) Where a battery is not mere matter of aggravation, a sufficient plea must either confess or justify the battery. 1942 Trans. Grotius Soc. 28 30 The accused justified the Orsini attempt. The charge was withdrawn before the trial. 2000 J. M. Feinman Law 101 viii. 273 Can either group justify the trespass and destruction of property by appeal to the necessity of protecting unborn life in the first case, or of preventing nuclear war in the second? b. To satisfy a court that one has sufficient funds to provide bail for a person accused of a crime. Now chiefly historical. (a) transitive in to justify bail. ΚΠ 1692 [implied in: Act 4 Will. & M. c. 5. §2 The Justices..shall make such Rules..for the justifying of such Bails..as to them shall seem meet.]. 1705 K. D'Anvers Gen. Abridgm. Common Law I. 682 Where, how, and to whom Commissions may be granted to take Bail in the Country,..and how such Bail shall be justified. 1780 Newgate Cal. V. 49 They..justified bail for sums to a considerable amount, though they were not possessed of property to the value of twenty shillings. 1839 Times 3 Jan. 7/4 One of them was a member of the legal profession, and two others had justified bail to the amount of 700l. 1880 Standard 9 Apr. 6/1 Bail for the husband was put in and justified. 1910 Jrnl. Hist. Apr. 177 Making out the bonds and justifying bail necessarily consumed considerable time. 2005 J. C. Chaturvedi Acad. Dict. Law & Legislation 240 Justifying bail, practice, the production of bail in court. (b) transitive (reflexive). ΚΠ 1724 W. Bohun Practising Attorney 6 The Defendant is to put in better Bail, or the Cognizors must justify themselves in open Court. 1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. xix. 291 The bail..must justify themselves in court..by swearing themselves house-keepers, and each of them to be worth double the sum for which they are bail, after payment of all their debts. 1857 W. R. Cole Law & Pract. in Ejectment App., 721 It is ordered that the sureties put in for the defendant in this action, who have this day justified themselves in court, be allowed, and the recognizance filed. 1903 T. Rolin & G. M. L. Innes Pract.Supreme Court New South Wales at Common Law 410 No person shall be permitted to justify himself as good and sufficient bail for any defendant if such person has been indemnified for so doing by the Solicitor concerned for any such defendant. 2005 J. C. Chaturvedi Acad. Dict. Law & Legislation 240 Justifying bail, practice, the production of bail in court, who there justify themselves against the exception of the plaintiff. (c) intransitive. ΘΚΠ society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > bailing or bail > bail [verb (intransitive)] > justify bail justifya1754 a1754 J. Strange Rep. Cases (1755) 2 821 By the course of the court it is sufficient if they justify in double what is really due. 1776 J. Burrow Rep. Court King's Bench 4 2526 The Sum he was required to justify in, was 9000l. 1791 Viner's Gen. Abridgm. Law & Equity (ed. 2) I. 259 In trover of 2 heads of vetches, &c. the defendant justified by the command of H. to whom part of the land belonged on which the vetches did grow. 1819 J. F. Archbold Pract. Court King's Bench I. i. i. i. 85 The court allowed the bail to appear and justify by their own attorney. 1922 Public Laws & Resol. N. Carolina: Extra Session 1921 147 Arrest a defendant in a civil action and taking bail, including Arrest and bail in attendant to justify, and all services connected therewith. one dollar and fifty cents. 1995 Philippines Justice Syst. & National Police Handbk. 74 Every surety shall justify by affidavit taken before the judge, and shall be required to describe the property given as security. 8. Chiefly Printing. a. transitive. To adjust to an exact shape, size, or position; to fit or arrange exactly; spec. (in type-founding) to adjust (a matrix, or part of one) to make the sides level and square and the impression of the required depth. Now rare. ΘΚΠ society > communication > printing > type founding > [verb (transitive)] > form into correct matrix justify1556 the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > adaptation or adjustment > adapt or adjust [verb (transitive)] > exactly or precisely justify1556 repair1691 register1887 society > communication > printing > preparatory processes > composing > compose [verb (transitive)] > adjust to fit evenly justify1672 1556 R. Record Castle of Knowl. 35 By true woorkinge to iustifie your Globe, which fyrste maye bee made as rounde, as any Turner can doo it, and then shall your instrument..correct it exactlye if it be amysse. 1594 R. Ashley tr. L. le Roy Interchangeable Course ii. f. 21 ^v They iustify their matrices on moulds of yron. 1672 T. Marshall Let. 9 Feb. in H. Hart Cent. Typogr. Oxf. (1900) 167/1 He undertakes to justify Matrices, but not cut Punctions... I suspend y^e urging of y^e Matrices to be justifyed by Mr. Van Dijke. 1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 153 Justifying of Matrices is, 1. to make the Face of the Sunken Letter, lie an exact designed depth below the Face of the Matrice, and on all its sides equally deep from the Face of the Matrice... 3. It is to Justifie both the sides, viz. the Right and left-sides of a Matrice to an exact thickness. 1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 281 Justifying the Head is to put into the Mortesses in the Cheeks..an equal and convenient thickness of..square pieces of Felt, Pastboards, or Scaboards..that when the Press-man Pulls, the Tennants of the Head shall have an equal Horizontal level Check. 1771 J. Kettilby Let. 27 Apr. in B. Franklin Papers (1974) XVIII. 87 1s. per Matrice if only struck to a proper depth but if justified and adjusted one and all to an equal depth and straight in the line 1s. 6d. 1797 Encycl. Brit. VII. 381/1 Before we proceed to the sinking and justifying of the matrices, we must provide a mould to justify them by. 1900 H. Hart Cent. Typogr. Pref. p. viii Nowadays a type-founder desiring to enlarge the number of his founts, would be able..to buy ‘strikes’, which when justified would become matrices. 1913 Printing Trade News (New York) 20 Dec. 51/1 Forms were sent the electrotyper which were so badly justified they could not be put on a press. b. transitive. spec. Now also Computing. To adjust (a line of type, a margin, †a letter) for correct alignment; to adjust spacing along (a line of type or text) to fill or fit a prescribed measure so that adjacent lines are of equal length; to arrange (a body of text) into lines of equal length. Also intransitive with object understood. ΚΠ 1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 153 It is to set or Justifie the Foot-line of the Letter exactly in Line. 1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 212 Justifying (in Compositers Language) is the stiff or loose filling of his Stick, for if it be fill'd very stiff with Letters or Spaces, they say it is hard Justified, if loosly, they say it is loose Justified. 1699 A. Boyer Royal Dict. ii. sig. Ccc2/3 Justify,..To Justify the Lines (amongst Printers). 1755 J. Smith Printer's Gram. iv. 54 Great care must be taken to justify the initial letter, and the Small Capitals, so as to stand exactly in line with each other. 1773 A. Vieyra Dict. Portuguese & Eng. Langs. I. at Justificar (With printers) to justify, to make the lines they compose even. 1824 J. Johnson Typographia II. iii. 66 To enable the compositor to space even, and to justify with nicety, they [sc. spaces] are cast to various thicknesses. 1824 J. Johnson Typographia II. vi. 124 Engaged..in taking care to space and to justify our matter. 1844 World we live In 1 15/1 The new type-setting machine..will set types and spaces, but it will not justify. 1892 Brit. Printer No. 26. 19 Ample knowledge of how to justify is not yet the common property of printers. 1948 Pop. Mech. Oct. 346/2 Typewritten copy with both margins justified is produced by an electric typewriter with a reel attachment. 1960 B. L. Ullman Origin & Devel. Humanistic Script ii. 30 Little attention is paid to justifying the margins. 1971 A. Kent et al. Encycl. Libr. & Information Sci. V. 513 Passes through the computer to merge the original tape and the corrections, to specify type faces and sizes, and to justify the lines. 2009 B. Goodale et al. Let's go: Paris (ed. 15) 131 Students have lost multiple points for forgetting to justify the margin (always justify!). c. intransitive. Of type or text: to be level, to align; to admit of being justified. With with. ΚΠ 1828 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. (at cited word) Types of different sizes will not justify with each other. 1876 C. A. Cutter Rules Dict. Catal. in Public Libraries U.S.A.: Special Rep.: Pt. II (Dept. Interior, Bureau Educ.) 63 The title is in long primer type, the parenthesis is in pearl, of which two lines will justify with one of the long primer. 1912 Monotype Syst. (Lanston Monotype Machine Co.) xxii. 76 These extra matrices are carried in the proper unit rows to make the characters cast from them justify with the figures. 2003 S. Carliner Training Design Basics (2004) viii. 154 To make sure that the text justifies on both margins, the computer must either stretch the letters or add many extra spaces. Phrases Proverb. the end justifies the means. [Compare classical Latin exitus ācta probat the outcome sanctions the means (Ovid Heroides 2. 85).] ΚΠ 1583 G. Babington Very Fruitfull Expos. Commaundem. 260 The ende good, doeth not by and by make the meanes good.] 1718 M. Prior Hans Carvel 67 The end must justifie the means; He only sins who ill intends. 1761 Authentic Mem. Portuguese Inquisition xxxii. 439 If the end did not justify the means, the subtilest Jesuit would..be much at a loss how to justify it. 1805 Evening Fire-side 13 Mar. 143/1 A writer may have very ‘benevolent views’; but the end does not justify the means he or she may improperly make use of to promote it. 1892 W. P. Trent William Gilmore Simms i. 10 The end justified the means with the young student, and deception was resorted to. 1941 ‘H. Bailey’ Smiling Corpse 238 ‘The police don't like to have their bodies moved.’..‘In this case the end justifies the means.’ 2003 Church Times 31 Oct. 9/3 Whilst there still might be some reservations about the means, the end justified them. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < v.a1382
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