Verdict Meaning
/ˈvɜː.dɪkt/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA decision on an issue of fact in a civil or criminal case or an inquest.
nounAn opinion or judgement.
Sentence Examples
The jury has returned a verdict of guilty.
The jury's guilty verdict gave rise to widespread debate.
Has the jury reached a verdict?
CEFR Practice Quiz
After long discussion, the jury reached a unanimous ____ of guilty.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The jury finally reached a ____ of 'not guilty' after several days of deep deliberation in the city court today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English verdit, from Anglo-Norman verdit (> Medieval Latin veredictum), from veir (“true”) + dit (“saying”); possibly a calque of a Germanic term such as Old English sōþword, sōþsprǣċ, sōþspell, sōþsagu, or sōþcwide, all meaning "true story, statement of truth, account, history". Doublet of veredictum.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Such a scandal as the prosecution of a brother for forgery—with a verdict of guilty—is a most truly horrible, deplorable, fatal thing. It takes the respectability out of a family perhaps at a critical moment, when the family is just assuming the robes of respectability: […] it is a black spot which all the soaps ever advertised could never wash off."
— 1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
"When his body was retrieved, it was apparent that he had not raised his hands to cover his face. Had he suffered some sort of fit or seizure? The coroner’s verdict was accidental death."
— 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger’s history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 124:
"The Supreme Court said Monday that unanimous jury verdicts are required in state criminal trials for serious offenses, handing a victory to criminal defendants including petitioner Evangelisto Ramos, who was convicted of murder in Louisiana on a 10-2 vote. […] “We took this case to decide whether the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial – as incorporated against the States by way of the Fourteenth Amendment – requires a unanimous verdict to convict a defendant of a serious offense,” Gorsuch wrote."
— 2020 April 20, Ariane de Vogue, “Supreme Court says unanimous jury verdicts required in state criminal trials for serious offenses”, in CNN, archived from the original on 02 Jun 2021:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
After long discussion, the jury reached a unanimous ____ of guilty.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The jury finally reached a ____ of 'not guilty' after several days of deep deliberation in the city court today.