judged

Judged is the past tense and past participle of the verb judge. It covers the act of forming an opinion about the value, quality, or character of someone or something after consideration, as well as the act of reaching a legal determination in a court proceeding. In everyday use, judged describes completed evaluation or assessment, for example, “She judged the proposal to be promising.” The past participle is used with auxiliary verbs to form perfect tenses, as in “has judged” or “had judged.” The related noun is judgment (or judgement).

Etymology and form: The word stems from Old French juger, from Latin iudicare, meaning to judge or decide. In English, the spelling judgment is standard in American usage, while judgement is common in British and other varieties; both spellings share the same meaning.

Contexts and nuance: In nonlegal contexts, to judge means to form an opinion or to evaluate merit, quality, or character. Judgments can be subjective and influenced by perspective or bias, as in evaluating taste or morals. In legal contexts, a judgment or verdict is the decision rendered by a court or jury; phrases like “the jury judged the defendant guilty” or “the court issued a judgment in favor of the plaintiff” reflect this use. The term often appears in discussions about fairness, accountability, and social norms, where caution is advised to distinguish between evaluation and condemnation.

See also: judgment, judgement, verdict, verdicts, bias.