JUDG'MENT, n. The act of judging; the act or process of the mind in comparing its ideas, to find their agreement or disagreement, and to ascertain truth; or the process of examining facts and arguments, to ascertain propriety and justice; or the process of examining the relations between one proposition and another.

1. The act of judging; the act or process of the mind in comparing its ideas, to find their agreement or disagreement, and to ascertain truth; or the process of examining facts and arguments, to ascertain propriety and justice; or the process of examining the relations between one proposition and another. – Locke. Encyc. Johnson.
2. The faculty of the mind by which man is enabled to compare ideas and ascertain the relations of terms and propositions; as, a man of clear judgment or sound judgment. The judgment may be biased by prejudice. Judgment supplies the want of certain knowledge.
3. The determination of the mind, formed from comparing the relations of ideas, or the comparison of facts and arguments. In the formation of our judgments, we should be careful to weigh and compare all the facts connected with the subject.
4. In law, the sentence or doom pronounced in any cause, civil or criminal, by the judge or court by which it is tried. Judgment may be rendered on demurrer, on a verdict, on a confession or default, or on a non-suit. Judgment, though pronounced by the judge or court, is properly the determination or sentence of the law. A pardon may be pleaded in arrest of judgment.
5. The right or power of passing sentence.
6. Determination; decision. Let reason govern us in the formation of our judgment of things proposed to our inquiry. – Anon.
7. Opinion; notion. She, in my judgment, was as fair as you.
8. In Scripture, the spirit of wisdom and prudence, enabling a person to discern right and wrong, good and evil. Give the king thy judgments, O God. – Ps. lxxii.
9. A remarkable punishment; an extraordinary calamity inflicted by God on sinners. Judgments are prepared for scorners. – Prov. xix. Is. xxvi.
10. The spiritual government of the world. The Father hath committed all judgment to the Son. – John v.
11. The righteous statutes and commandments of God are called his judgments. – Ps. cxix.
12. The doctrines of the gospel, or God's word. – Matth. xii.
13. Justice and equity. – Luke xi. Is. i.
14. The decrees and purposes of God concerning nations. – Rom. xi.
15. A court or tribunal. – Matth. v.
16. Controversies, or decisions of controversies. – 1 Cor. vi.
17. The gospel, or kingdom of grace. – Matth. xii.
18. The final trial of the human race, when God will decide the fate of every individual, and award sentence according to justice. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with even secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. – Eccles. xii. Judgment of God. Formerly this term was applied to extraordinary trials of secret crimes, as by arms and single combat, by ordeal, or hot plowshares, &c.; it being imagined that God would work miracles to vindicate innocence.

1. The act of judging; the operation of the mind, involving comparison and discrimination, by which a knowledge of the values and relations of thins, whether of moral qualities, intellectual concepts, logical propositions, or material facts, is obtained; as, by careful judgment he avoided the peril; by a series of wrong judgments he forfeited confidence.
   
   

   I oughte deme, of skilful jugement,
   That in the salte sea my wife is deed. Chaucer.

2. The power or faculty of performing such operations (see 1); esp., when unqualified, the faculty of judging or deciding rightly, justly, or wisely; good sense; as, a man of judgment; a politician without judgment.
   
   

   He shall judge thy people with righteousness and thy poor with judgment. Ps. lxxii. 2.

   Hernia. I would my father look'd but with my eyes.
   Theseus. Rather your eyes must with his judgment look. Shak.

3. The conclusion or result of judging; an opinion; a decision.
   
   

   She in my judgment was as fair as you. Shak.

   Who first his judgment asked, and then a place. Pope.

4. The act of determining, as in courts of law, what is conformable to law and justice; also, the determination, decision, or sentence of a court, or of a judge; the mandate or sentence of God as the judge of all.
   
   

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

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

5. That act of the mind by which two notions or ideas which are apprehended as distinct are compared for the purpose of ascertaining their agreement or disagreement. See 1. The comparison may be threefold: (1) Of individual objects forming a concept. (2) Of concepts giving what is technically called a judgment. (3) Of two judgments giving an inference. Judgments have been further classed as analytic, synthetic, and identical.
   
   
   (b)
6. A calamity regarded as sent by God, by way of recompense for wrong committed; a providential punishment.
   
   
   "Judgments are prepared for scorners." Prov. xix. 29. "This judgment of the heavens that makes us tremble." Shak.
7. The final award; the last sentence.
   
   

   * Judgment, abridgment, acknowledgment, and lodgment are in England sometimes written, judgement, abridgement, acknowledgement, and lodgement.

   * Judgment is used adjectively in many self-explaining combinations; as, judgment hour; judgment throne.

   Judgment day (Theol.), the last day, or period when final judgment will be pronounced on the subjects of God's moral government. -- Judgment debt (Law), a debt secured to the creditor by a judge's order. -- Judgment hall, a hall where courts are held. -- Judgment seat, the seat or bench on which judges sit in court; hence, a court; a tribunal. "We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." Rom. xiv. 10. -- Judgment summons (Law), a proceeding by a judgment creditor against a judgment debtor upon an unsatisfied judgment.

   Arrest of judgment. (Law) See under Arrest, n. -- Judgment of God, a term formerly applied to extraordinary trials of secret crimes, as by arms and single combat, by ordeal, etc.; it being imagined that God would work miracles to vindicate innocence. See under Ordeal.

   Syn. -- Discernment; decision; determination; award; estimate; criticism; taste; discrimination; penetration; sagacity; intelligence; understanding. See Taste.