Justice /(jŭs"tĭs)/

Jus·tice

Justice

n.
  1. The quality of being just; conformity to the principles of righteousness and rectitude in all things; strict performance of moral obligations; practical conformity to human or divine law; integrity in the dealings of men with each other; rectitude; equity; uprightness.
    Justice and judgment are the haditation of thy throne.
    — Ps. ixxxix. 11.
    The king-becoming graces, As justice, verity, temperance, stableness, . . . I have no relish of them.
  2. Conformity to truth and reality in expressing opinions and in conduct; fair representation of facts respecting merit or demerit; honesty; fidelity; impartiality; as, the justice of a description or of a judgment; historical justice.
  3. The rendering to every one his due or right; just treatment; requital of desert; merited reward or punishment; that which is due to one's conduct or motives.
    This even-handed justice Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice To our own lips.
  4. Agreeableness to right; equity; justness; as, the justice of a claim.
  5. A person duly commissioned to hold courts, or to try and decide controversies and administer justice.

Phrases & Compounds

Bed of justice
See under Bed.
Chief justice
See in the Vocabulary.
Justice of the peace
a judicial officer or subordinate magistrate appointed for the conservation of the peace in a specified district, with other incidental powers specified in his commission. In the United States a justice of the peace has jurisdiction to adjudicate certain minor cases, commit offenders, officiate at marriages, etc.; abbreviated JP.

Justice

v. t.
  1. To administer justice to. [Obs.]