Etymograph

English

prejudge

Prejudge comes from Middle French préjuger, from Latin praeiudico ‘to prejudge’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- ‘straight, upright, right’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yew-1‘straight, upright, right’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yéwos1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*jowos1‘court of law’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūs1‘law, right’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdex1‘judge’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdicō1‘to judge, pass judgement’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraeiudico2as praeudico, adaptation‘to prejudge’
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600préjuger2
  9. Englishtodayprejudge2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin praeiudico
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English prejudge

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yew-Wiktionary, Latin praeiudico‘straight, upright, right’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yéwosWiktionary, Latin praeiudicoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*jowosWiktionary, Latin praeiudico‘court of law’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūsWiktionary, Latin praeiudico‘law, right’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdexWiktionary, Latin praeiudico‘judge’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdicōWiktionary, Latin praeiudico‘to judge, pass judgement’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraeiudicoWiktionary, English prejudgeas praeudico, adaptation‘to prejudge’
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600préjugerWiktionary, English prejudge
  9. EnglishtodayprejudgeWiktionary, English prejudge

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- ‘straight, upright, right’

yet, jurist, injurious, 24 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂yéwos

justify, justification, injustice, 23 more

through Proto-Italic *jowos ‘court of law’

just, jury, conjure, 27 more

through Latin iūs ‘law, right’

justice, juice, jus, 16 more

through Latin iūdicō ‘to judge, pass judgement’

judicial, judgment, judiciary, preach, predicament, predicate, judicious, adjudicate, judicature, 12 more

Today it means

verb To form a judgment of (something) in advance.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “prejudge”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin praeiudico. 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- / prejudge

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