justice

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The quality of being just; fairness.
2. n. The principle of moral rightness; equity.
3. n. Conformity to moral rightness in action or attitude; righteousness.
4. n. The upholding of what is just, especially fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honor, standards, or law.
5. n. Law The administration and procedure of law.
6. n. Conformity to truth, fact, or sound reason: The overcharged customer was angry, and with justice.
7. n. Law A judge.
8. n. Law A justice of the peace.
9. idiom. do justice to To treat adequately, fairly, or with full appreciation: The subject is so complex that I cannot do justice to it in a brief survey.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Justness; the quality of being just; just conduct. Practical conformity to the laws and principles of right dealing; the rendering to every one of that which is his due; honesty; rectitude; uprightness; also, the ethical idea of just conduct, either of individuals or of communities; the moral principle which determines such conduct.
2. n. Vindication of right; requital of desert; the assignment of merited reward or punishment; specifically, execution or vindication of law.
3. n. Rights of jurisdiction.
4. n. Jurisdiction; authority.
5. n. Precision; justness; exactness.
6. n. A person commissioned to hold court for the purpose of hearing complaints, trying and deciding cases, and administering justice; a judge or magistrate: generally in specific uses: as, a justice of the peace; the justices of the Supreme Court.
7. n. Synonyms Right, Justice, Equity, Law; Justness, Justice. Right is the standard word for what ought to be. Justice and equity are essentially the same, expressing the working out of the principles of right under law, but law often contrary to justice or equity: hence the occasional remark, “That may be law, but it is not justice.” Law in such a case means the interpretation of written law by the courts. A court of equity deals with and corrects the injustice of the working of the law. Equity more expressively represents the idea of fairness, and justice that of sacred rights. (See just and honesty.) Justness has a field of meaning peculiar to itself, by which we speak of the justness of observations, criticisms, etc.—that is, their conformity to admitted principles. As to conformity to right, we use justice for the abstract quality, justice of the person, and justness of the thing. We speak of the justness of a cause, a claim, a plea, etc.
8. To administer justice to; deal with judicially; judge.

Wiktionary

1. n. The state or characteristic of being just or fair.
2. n. The ideal of fairness, impartiality, etc., especially with regard to the punishment of wrongdoing.
3. n. Judgment and punishment of a party who has allegedly wronged (an)other(s).
4. n. The civil power dealing with law.
5. n. A judge of certain courts. Also capitalized as a title.
6. n. Correctness, conforming to reality or rules.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The quality of being just; conformity to the principles of righteousness and rectitude in all things; strict performance of moral obligations; practical conformity to human or divine law; integrity in the dealings of men with each other; rectitude; equity; uprightness.
2. n. Conformity to truth and reality in expressing opinions and in conduct; fair representation of facts respecting merit or demerit; honesty; fidelity; impartiality.
3. n. The rendering to every one his due or right; just treatment; requital of desert; merited reward or punishment; that which is due to one's conduct or motives.
4. n. Agreeableness to right; equity; justness.
5. n. A person duly commissioned to hold courts, or to try and decide controversies and administer justice.
6. v. obsolete To administer justice to.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. judgment involved in the determination of rights and the assignment of rewards and punishments
2. n. the quality of being just or fair
3. n. a public official authorized to decide questions brought before a court of justice
4. n. the United States federal department responsible for enforcing federal laws (including the enforcement of all civil rights legislation); created in 1870