justice (English)
Where does "justice" come from?
The word justice traces its roots back to the ancient Proto-Indo-European root *h₂yew-, which suggests concepts of being straight or upright. It evolved through the Proto-Italic *jowos into the Latin iūstitia, a term deeply linked to religious formulas and righteousness, before entering English via Old French. Over time, this term gradually replaced the native Old English word 'righteousness' to represent our modern legal and moral concept of fairness.
Full etymology tree
- justice (English), 'The state or characteristic of being just or fair.'
- inherited justice (Middle English)
- borrowed justise (Old French), 'revenge; retribution'
- derived iūstitia (Latin), 'justice, fairness, equity'
- derived iūstus (Latin), 'just, righteous'
- inherited iovestos (Latin), 'Old Latin form of iūstus'
- inherited *jowestos (Proto-Italic), 'legal'
- derived *jowos (Proto-Italic), 'court of law'
- derived *h₂yew- (Proto-Indo-European), 'straight, upright, right'
- derived *h₂ey- (Proto-Indo-European), 'vital force, life, age, eternity'
- derived *h₂óyu (Proto-Indo-European), 'long time, lifetime'
- derived *h₂yew- (Proto-Indo-European), 'straight, upright, right'
- derived *jowos (Proto-Italic), 'court of law'
- inherited *jowestos (Proto-Italic), 'legal'
- inherited iovestos (Latin), 'Old Latin form of iūstus'
- derived iūstus (Latin), 'just, righteous'
- derived iūstitia (Latin), 'justice, fairness, equity'
- borrowed justise (Old French), 'revenge; retribution'
- inherited justice (Middle English)
Direct ancestors
- h₂yew- (Proto-Indo-European)
- justise (Old French)
- iustitia (Latin)
- jowos (Proto-Italic)
- h₂yew- (Proto-Indo-European)
- justice (French)
- Justitia (English)
- rihtwisnes (Old English)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris