English Online Dictionary. What means justify? What does justify mean?
English
Alternative forms
- justifie (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English justifien, from Old French justifier, from Late Latin justificare (“make just”), from Latin justus, iustus (“just”) + ficare (“make”), from facere, equivalent to just + -ify.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒʌstɪfaɪ/
- Hyphenation: jus‧ti‧fy
Verb
justify (third-person singular simple present justifies, present participle justifying, simple past and past participle justified)
- (transitive) To provide an acceptable explanation for.
- (transitive) To be a good, acceptable reason for; warrant.
- (transitive, typography) 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.
- (transitive) To prove; to ratify; to confirm.
- (law) 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.
- (law) To qualify (oneself) as a surety by taking oath to the ownership of sufficient property.
Derived terms
Related terms
- -fy
- just
- justification
- justifiable
- justifiably
- unjustified