Decoding Legal Vocabulary: Jurisdiction, Verdict, Indict

Use Latin roots and a few spelling quirks to read legal terms.

Legal English draws heavily on Latin and on the French once spoken in English courts. Juris, the genitive of Latin jus, means 'law' or 'right. ' Jurisdiction combines it with dictio, 'saying' or 'declaring': the authority to declare the law in a particular area. Jury and justice are relatives. Verdict comes from Medieval Latin veredictum, 'truly said,' from vere, 'truly,' and dictum, 'said. ' Testimony comes from testis, 'witness. ' Plaintiff comes from French plaintif, 'complaining,' the party who brings a complaint. A pronunciation trap: indict is said in-DITE.

The c was added to the spelling to look more Latin, but the older pronunciation stayed. Worked example: 'The court lacked jurisdiction, so the indictment was dismissed. ' Decoded: the court did not have legal authority over this matter, so the formal charge was thrown out. Recognizing dict, 'say,' across these words connects jurisdiction, verdict, indict, and dictionary.

• 1Juris means law; dict means say or declare.
• 2Verdict means 'truly said'; testis means witness.
• 3Indict is pronounced in-DITE despite the c.