justify

English

/ˈdʒʌstɪfaɪ/

verb
Definitions
  • (transitive) To provide an acceptable explanation for.
  • (transitive) To be a good, acceptable reason for; warrant.
  • (transitive) To arrange (text) on a page or a computer screen such that the left and right ends of all lines within paragraphs are aligned.
  • (transitive) To absolve, and declare to be free of blame or sin.
  • (reflexive) To give reasons for one’s actions; to make an argument to prove that one is in the right.
  • To prove; to ratify; to confirm.
  • (legal) To show (a person) to have had a sufficient legal reason for an act that has been made the subject of a charge or accusation.
  • (legal) To qualify (oneself) as a surety by taking oath to the ownership of sufficient property.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English justifien borrowed from Old French justifier derived from Latin justificare, justus suffix from English just root from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (put, place, set, do, suck, suckle, make).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*dʰeh₁-

Gloss

put, place, set, do, suck, suckle, make

Concept
Semantic Field

Motion

Ontological Category

Action/Process

Kanji

哺

Emoji

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms