To pronounce a formal judgment or decision about something; to declare or award officially, especially in a legal or competitive context.
From ad- + judge (from Latin judicare 'to judge'). The prefix ad- intensifies the sense of judgment or official determination.
In legal English, 'adjudge' is more formal than 'judge'—lawyers still use it to mean an official, binding pronouncement, keeping alive a distinction that ordinary English has mostly lost.
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