Etymograph

English

justify

Justify comes from Old French justifier ‘to show to be innocent’, from Late Latin justificare ‘make just’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- ‘right, justice, law’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yew-1‘right, justice, law’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yéwos1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*jowos1‘court of law’reconstructed
  4. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCE*iowos1reconstructed
  5. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEiovestos1
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūstus2as justus‘just’
  7. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEjustificare2‘make just’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400justifier2‘to show to be innocent’
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500justifien2
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1591justify2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin iustus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English justify
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “I cannot justify whom the law condemns.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yew-Wiktionary, Latin iustus‘right, justice, law’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yéwosWiktionary, Latin iustusreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*jowosWiktionary, Latin iustus‘court of law’reconstructed
  4. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCE*iowosWiktionary, Latin iustusreconstructed
  5. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEiovestosWiktionary, Latin iustus
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūstusWiktionary, English justifyas justus‘just’
  7. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEjustificareWiktionary, English justify‘make just’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400justifierWiktionary, English justify‘to show to be innocent’
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500justifienWiktionary, English justify
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1591justifyWiktionary, English justify. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “I cannot justify whom the law condemns.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- ‘right, justice, law’

yet, jurist, injurious, 25 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂yéwos

prejudge, 23 more

through Proto-Italic *jowos ‘court of law’

judge, judgment, judicial, preach, judiciary, prejudice, predicament, predicate, judicious, adjudicate, judicature, 26 more

through Archaic Latin *iowos

jury, conjure, 13 more

through Latin iūstus ‘just’

injustice, 6 more

Today it means

verb To provide an acceptable explanation for.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “justify”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin iustus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- / justify

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