/ˈdʒʌs.tɪs/·noun·c. 1140–1150 CE, Anglo-Norman legal texts; c. 1200 CE in Middle English prose·Established
Origin
From PIE *yewos- ('ritual correctness') through Latin *ius* ('law, right') and *iustitia*, Old French *justise* carried the word into English, where its sibling *injury* (literally 'un-ius') reveals that an injury was always etymologically a violation of the same root that gives us justice.
Definition
The quality of being morally right and fair in the application of law, authority, or moral principles; the administration of deserved punishment or reward according to established standards of right conduct.
The Full Story
Old French / Latin13th century CEwell-attested
English 'justice' enters the language in the early 13th century via Old French 'justice', itself directly from Latin 'iustitia', meaning 'righteousness, equity, the quality of being just'. TheLatinnoun derives from 'iustus' (just, righteous, lawful), which is in turn built on 'ius' (law, right, that which is binding). The earliest attested English use appears around 1140–1150 in Anglo-Norman legaland
Did you know?
Theword *jury* is a direct etymological sibling of *justice* — both descend from Latin *ius* ('binding right'). A jury member swears an oath (*iurare*, 'to swear by ius'), making the act of jury service literally a ritual of placing oneself under the same binding obligation the word *justice* was built to describe. The juror and the concept they serve share the same
'. This PIE root carried the sense of something sacral and binding — the ritual law that held the cosmos together, not merely human statute. Cognates sharing this root include Sanskrit 'yós' (welfare, health) and Avestan 'yaos-' (ritual purity). Within Latin the same root yields 'iurare' (to swear an oath), 'iudex' (judge, literally 'one who speaks the law', from ius + dicere), 'iudicium' (judgment), and 'iniuria' (injury, injustice, literally not-right). The semantic trajectory moves from PIE ritual-cosmic correctness → Latin legal-moral rightness → Old French administrative and theological propriety → English judicial and ethical universalism. Scholarly treatments: Ernout & Meillet; Benveniste, Le vocabulaire des institutions indo-européennes (1969), vol. 2. Key roots: *yewos- (Proto-Indo-European: "ritual law, sacred binding correctness, religious formula"), ius (Latin: "law, right, binding legal or religious obligation"), iustitia (Latin: "the quality of being iustus; righteousness, equity, justice").