forjudge

Etymology

From Middle English forjugen; in sense 1, from Old French fourjugier (“to judge illegally, dispossess”); in sense 2, from Middle English for- + jugen (“to judge”), equivalent to for- + judge. Compare fordeem.

Why this word is great

FORJUDGE — [Verb] To exclude, oust, or dispossess by a judgment; or to condemn judicially to a penalty. From Middle English forjugen; in the first sense, from Old French fourjugier ("to judge illegally, dispossess"); in the second sense, from Middle English for- ("against, away") + jugen ("to judge"), equivalent to for- + judge. Unlike "adjudge" (which settles neutrally) or "proscribe" (which bans broadly), to forjudge is to cast out with the cold finality of a gavel's strike. It is the exile’s empty hearth, the tenant’s belongings piled at the courthouse steps, the debtor’s name struck from the ledger—each a silent monument to power’s habit of dressing expulsion in the robes of justice. Justice, here, wears the face of loss.

verb

To exclude, oust, or dispossess by a judgment; prohibit (from).“And it is enacted by the ſtatute 5 Edw. III. c. 9 that no man ſhall be forejudged of life or limb, contrary to the great charter and the law of the land: and again, by ſtatute 28 Ed. III. c. 3, that no man ſhall be put to death, without being brought to anſwer by due proceſs of law.”
To condemn judicially (to a penalty).