adjudication

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin adiudicatio, adiudicationem.

noun

1. The act of adjudicating, of reaching a judgement.
2. A judgment or sentence.
   16 June, 1784, Edmund Burke, speech on reform of representation in the House of Commons An adjudication in favour of natural rights.
   [Mr. C.] says he confessed to avoid a lengthier sentence after his original attorney told him that the prosecutor claimed DNA evidence conclusively identified him as the attacker. [Mr. C.] had an earlier deferred adjudication for indecency with a minor. Jun 17 2007, Houston Chronicle
3. (law) The decision upon the question of whether the debtor is a bankrupt.
   In case two or more petitions for adjudication of bankruptcy shall be filed in different districts by different members of the same copartnership for an adjudication of the bankruptcy of said copartnership , the court in which the petition is first filed having jurisdiction[…] 1869, Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, A Treatise Upon the United States Courts, and Their Practice
4. (emergency response) The process of identifying the type of material or device that set off an alarm and assessing the potential threat with corresponding implications for the need to take further action.
5. (law, Scotland) A process by which land is attached as security or in satisfaction of a debt.