jurisprudence
noun
R. H. BorkBernard Schwartz
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"For a farewell to our jurisprudent, I wish unto him the gladsome light of jurisprudence…." With this farewell to English jurist Sir Thomas Littleton, another jurist named Sir Edward Coke welcomed two new words into English. In 1628, his jurisprudence meant "knowledge of or skill in law," a now-archaic sense that reflects the meaning of the word's root. Jurisprudence goes back to the Latin phrase prudentia juris (literally "skill in law"), from which came the Late Latin formation jurisprudentia, and subsequently the English word. The noun jurisprudent means "one skilled in law"—in other words, a jurist or a judge. There's also jurisprude, a somewhat rare 20th-century back-formation created from jurisprudence with influence from prude. It means "one who makes a showy display of jurisprudential learning."
Examples of jurisprudence in a Sentence
Carlton Reid, Forbes, 2 Nov. 2024
This reasoning mirrors Israeli jurisprudence decried by the U.S. prior to 9/11, some analysts note.
—Anna Mulrine Grobe, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 Oct. 2024
Such a liberal court could also create sanity out of the madness that is the current court’s Second Amendment jurisprudence, paving the way for Congress and the states to pass rational gun laws.
—Noah Feldman, The Mercury News, 26 Oct. 2024
Eager to extend the Warren Court’s liberal jurisprudence and fearful that his Great Society might suffer the fate of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal initiatives at the hands of conservative jurists, Johnson resolved to maintain the institution’s ideological bent.
—Michael Bobelian, TIME, 7 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Jurisprudence.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jurisprudence. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
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jurisprudence
noun
Legal Definition
jurisprudence
noun
Louisiana Civil CodeR. H. BorkLate Latin jurisprudentia knowledge of or skill in law, from Latin juris, genitive of jus right, law + prudentia wisdom, proficiency
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