Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Honorable and fair in one's dealings and actions: synonym: fair.
  • adjective Consistent with what is morally right; righteous.
  • adjective Properly due or merited.
  • adjective Law Valid within the law; lawful.
  • adjective Suitable or proper in nature; fitting.
  • adjective Based on fact or sound reason; well-founded.
  • adverb Precisely; exactly.
  • adverb Only a moment ago.
  • adverb By a narrow margin; barely.
  • adverb At a little distance.
  • adverb Merely; only.
  • adverb Simply; certainly.
  • adverb Perhaps; possibly.
  • idiom (just about) Almost; very nearly.
  • idiom (just now) Only a moment ago.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An abbreviation of Justice;
  • noun of Justinian.
  • Right in law or ethics
  • Right in character or quality
  • Strictly accurate; exact; precise; proper.
  • Agreeable to the common standard; full; complete.
  • Right-minded; good in intention
  • Carefully mindful; faithful; followed by to, and formerly also by of: as, to be just to one's engagements.
  • In music, harmonically pure, correct, and exact; in perfect tune: as, just interval, intonation, temperament: opposed in general to impure and incorrect, and specifically to tempered.
  • noun A pot or jug, made of earthenware or metal, with large body and straight neck, for holding liquids.
  • noun A military contest or spectacle in which two adversaries attacked each other with blunted lances, rarely with sharp weapons as in war; a knightly tilt.
  • To engage in a tournament or just; tilt.
  • Exactly, in space, time, kind, or degree; precisely; without interval, deviation, or variation; absolutely: as, just five miles; just noon; just so; just as I thought.
  • Within a little; with very little but a sufficient difference; nearly; almost exactly; as, I stood just by him; I saw him just now.
  • Merely; barely; by or with a narrow margin: as, you just missed the mark; he is just a little displeased.
  • But now; very lately; within a brief past time.
  • Quite: in intensive use: as, just awful.
  • Directly; immediately; without delay: as, I will attend to it just now.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A joust.
  • intransitive verb To joust.
  • adjective Conforming or conformable to rectitude or justice; not doing wrong to any; violating no right or obligation; upright; righteous; honest; true; -- said both of persons and things.
  • adjective Not transgressing the requirement of truth and propriety; conformed to the truth of things, to reason, or to a proper standard; exact; normal; reasonable; regular; due
  • adjective Rendering or disposed to render to each one his due; equitable; fair; impartial.
  • adjective (Mus.) The giving all chords and intervals in their purity or their exact mathematical ratio, or without temperament; a process in which the number of notes and intervals required in the various keys is much greater than the twelve to the octave used in systems of temperament.
  • adverb Precisely; exactly; -- in place, time, or degree; neither more nor less than is stated.
  • adverb Closely; nearly; almost.
  • adverb Barely; merely; scarcely; only; by a very small space or time
  • adverb the least possible time since; a moment ago.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Factually fair; correct; proper.
  • adjective Morally fair; upright; righteous, equitable.
  • adverb Only, simply, merely.
  • adverb Used to reduce the force of an imperative; simply.
  • adverb speech act Used to convey a less serious or formal tone
  • adverb speech act Used to show humility.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English juste, from Old French, from Latin iūstus; see yewes- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English juste, from Old French juste, from Latin iustus ("just, lawful, rightful, true, due, proper, moderate"), from ius ("law, right"). Cognate with Dutch & Scottish juist, French juste etc.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Variation of joust, presumably ultimately from Latin iuxta 'near, besides'.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word just.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.