Judgment vs Circumstance - What's the difference?

As nouns the difference between judgment and circumstance

is that judgment is the act of judging while circumstance is that which attends, or relates to, or in some way affects, a fact or event; an attendant thing or state of things.

As a verb circumstance is

to place in a particular situation, especially with regard to money or other resources.

judgment

English

Alternative forms

* judgement (British) * iugement, iudgement, iudgment, iudgemente, iudgmente (obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)

The act of judging.

The power or faculty of performing such operations; especially, when unqualified, the faculty of judging or deciding rightly, justly, or wisely; as, a man of judgment; a politician without judgment.

* Psalms 72:2 ().

He shall judge thy people with righteousness and thy poor with judgment .

* Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream , I-i

Hermia. I would my father look'd but with my eyes. Theseus. Rather your eyes must with his judgment look.

The conclusion or result of judging; an opinion; a decision.

* Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona , IV-iv

She in my judgment was as fair as you.

(legal) The act of determining, as in courts of law, what is conformable to law and justice; also, the determination, decision, or sentence of a court, or of a judge.

* .

In judgments between rich and poor, consider not what the poor man needs, but what is his own.

* Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice , IV-i

Most heartily I do beseech the court To give the judgment .

(theology) The final award; the last sentence.

Usage notes

See for discussion of spelling usage of judgment' versus '''judgement . Briefly, without the ''-e'' is preferred in law globally, and in American English, while with the ''-e is preferred in British English. Like (abridgment), (acknowledgment), and (lodgment), judgment is sometimes written with English spellings in American English, as (judgement) (respectively, (abridgement), (acknowledgement), and (lodgement)). The British spelling preserves the rule that G can only be soft while preceding an E, I, or Y.

Derived terms

* against one's better judgment * arrest of judgment * Day of Judgment * judgment call * judgment day * judgment debt * judgment hall * judgment hour * judgment of God * judgment seat * judgment summons * judgment throne

References

circumstance

English

Alternative forms

* circumstaunce

Noun

(en noun)

That which attends, or relates to, or in some way affects, a fact or event; an attendant thing or state of things.

* Washington Irving

The circumstances are well known in the country where they happened.

* {{quote-book, year=1905, author=

, title= , chapter=1 citation , passage=“The story of this adoption is, of course, the pivot round which all the circumstances of the mysterious tragedy revolved. Mrs. Yule had an only son, namely, William, to whom she was passionately attached ; but, like many a fond mother, she had the desire of mapping out that son's future entirely according to her own ideas. […]”}}

An event; a fact; a particular incident.

* Addison

The sculptor had in his thoughts the conqoeror weeping for new worlds, or the like circumstances in history.

* 1834 , David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of , Nebraska 1987, p. 20:

Then another circumstance happened, which made a lasting impression on my memory, though I was but a small child.

Circumlocution; detail.

* Shakespeare

So without more circumstance at all / I hold it fit that we shake hands and part.

Condition in regard to worldly estate; state of property; situation; surroundings.

* Addison

When men are easy in their circumstances , they are naturally enemies to innovations.

Derived terms

{{der3, attendant circumstance , extenuating circumstances , under no circumstance , under the circumstances}}

Verb

(circumstanc)

To place in a particular situation, especially with regard to money or other resources.

* 1858 , , Chapter 8:

Tidings had in some shape reached is ears that his father was not comfortably circumstanced as regarded money.