just

From Middle English juste, from Old French juste, from Latin iūstus (“just, lawful, rightful, true, due, proper, moderate”), from Proto-Italic *jowestos, related to Latin iūs (“law, right”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew-. Compare Scots juist (“just”), Saterland Frisian juust (“just”), West Frisian just (“just”), Dutch juist (“just”), German Low German jüst (“jüst”), German just (“just”), Danish just (“just”), Swedish just (“just”). Doublet of giusto.

• jes, jes', jest, jist, jus'

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒʌst/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• (adverb, unstressed) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒəst/
• (dialectal) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɛst/, /d͡ʒɪst/ (see jest, jist)
• Rhymes: -ʌst

just (comparative juster or more just, superlative justest or most just)

1. Factually right, correct; factual.

   It is a just assessment of the facts.

2. Rationally right, correct.
3. Morally right; upright, righteous, equitable; fair.

   It looks like a just solution at first glance.

   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     My lord, we know your grace to be a man
     Just and upright.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Colossians 4:1:

     Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

   • 1744, Alexander Shiels [i.e., Alexander Shields], “Period VI. Containing the Testimony through the Continued Tract of the Present Deformation, from the Year 1660 to this Day.”, in A Hind Let Loose: Or, An Historical Representation of the Testimonies of the Church of Scotland, for the Interest of Christ; with the True State thereof in All Its Periods: [...], Edinburgh: Reprinted by R. Drummond and Company, and sold by William Gray bookbinder in the Grassmarket, and several others, &c., OCLC 723488025, pages 167–168:

     Here is a Proclamation for a Prince: that proclaims him in whoſe name it is emitted [James II of England], to be the greateſt Tyrant that ever lived in the world, and their Revolt who have diſowned him to be the juſteſt that ever was.

   • 1900 December – 1901 August, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “chapter 23”, in The First Men in the Moon, London: George Newnes, […], published 1901, OCLC 843386372:

     Looking back over my previously written account of these things, I must insist that I have been altogether juster to Cavor than he has been to me.

4. Proper, adequate.

• right, correct
• righteous, equitable
• proper, adequate

• unjust

• justly
• justness
• sleep of the just

• justice

just (not comparable)

1. Only, simply, merely.

   Plant just a few tomatoes, unless you can freeze or dry them.

   He calls it vermilion, but it's just red to me.

   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 8, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     Philander went into the next room, which was just a lean-to hitched on to the end of the shanty, and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm. Then he put the coffee pot on the stove and rummaged out a loaf of dry bread and some hardtack.

   • 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:

     From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. […]   But viewed from high up in one of the growing number of skyscrapers in Sri Lanka’s capital, it is clear that something extraordinary is happening: China is creating a shipping hub just 200 miles from India’s southern tip.

   • 2013 June 14, Sam Leith, “Where the profound meets the profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 37:

     Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths.

2. (sentence adverb) Used to reduce the force of an imperative; simply.

   Just follow the directions on the box.

3. Used to convey a less serious or formal tone

   I just called to say "hi".

4. Used to show humility.

   Lord, we just want to thank You and praise Your Name.

5. (degree) absolutely, positively

   It is just splendid!

6. Moments ago, recently.

   They just left, but you may leave a message at the desk.

   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 8, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     Philander went into the next room […] and came back with a salt mackerel […] . Next he put the mackerel in a fry-pan, and the shanty began to smell like a Banks boat just in from a v'yage.

7. By a narrow margin; closely; nearly.

   The fastball just missed my head!

   The piece just might fit.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 14, in The China Governess‎:

     Nanny Broome was looking up at the outer wall.  Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime.

8. Exactly, precisely, perfectly.

   He wants everything just right for the big day.

   • 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis; John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Fourteenth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson […], OCLC 80026745:

     And having just enough, not covet more.

   • c. 1580 (date written)​, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “[The First Booke] Chapter 19”, in Fulke Greville, Matthew Gwinne, and John Florio, editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, OCLC 801077108; republished in Albert Feuillerat, editor, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia (Cambridge English Classics: The Complete Works of Sir Philip Sidney; I), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1912, OCLC 318419127, page 122:

     The god Pan […] guided my hand so just to the heart of the beast.

   • c. 1597, William Shakespeare, “The Merry VViues of VVindsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene vi]:

     To-night, at Herne's oak, just 'twixt twelve and one.

   • 2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:

     Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.

• (only): merely, simply; see also Thesaurus:merely
• (recently): freshly, lately, newly
• (by a narrow margin): barely, hardly, scarcely; see also Thesaurus:slightly
• (exactly): on the dot, smack-dab; see also Thesaurus:exactly

just

1. (slang) Expressing dismay or discontent.

Variation of joust, presumably ultimately from Latin iuxta (“near, besides”).

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒʌst/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌst

just (plural justs)

1. A joust, tournament.
   • 1928, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 11, in Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle‎, 1st edition, page 139:

     Justs and tilts were held here weekly, while the great tourneys that occurred less often were given upon a field outside the castle wall upon the floor of the valley.

just (third-person singular simple present justs, present participle justing, simple past and past participle justed)

1. To joust, fight a tournament.
   • 1600, [Torquato Tasso], “The Third Booke of Godfrey of Bulloigne”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, OCLC 940138160, page 39:

     He iusts with her vnknowne whom he lou’d best, [...].

• Stanley, Oma (1937), “I. Vowel Sounds in Stressed Syllables”, in The Speech of East Texas (American Speech: Reprints and Monographs; 2), New York: Columbia University Press, DOI:10.7312/stan90028, →ISBN, § 12, page 27.
• just in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• just in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

• UJTs, juts

Inherited from Old Catalan just, from Latin iūstus.

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /ˈʒust/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒust/

• Audio

  (file)

just (feminine justa, masculine plural justs or justos, feminine plural justes)

1. fair; just

   Antonym: injust

2. perfect, almost perfect

• justament
• justesa
• preu just
• tot just

• injust
• injustícia
• justícia

just

1. justly

• “just” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “just”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
• “just” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “just” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From Middle Low German just or Swedish just. Possibly from German just. See also justament.

just

1. exactly, precisely, just

   Sa tulid just parajal ajal.

   You came just at the right time.

2. recently, just now, just

   Ma jõudsin just koju.

   I just got home.

3. really (softens what has been said)

   Ta pole just töökas mees.

   He isn't much of a worker.

Borrowed from Swedish just.

• IPA^(key): /ˈjust/, [ˈjus̠t̪]
• Rhymes: -ust
• Syllabification^(key): just

just

1. (colloquial, dialectal) just, exactly, precisely, perfectly

   Just niin siinä kävi.

   That's exactly what happened.

2. (colloquial) recently, just now

   Se oli just tässä.

   He was here just a minute ago.

just

1. (colloquial) I see, uh-huh, oh well

   Just. Se oli sitten siinä.

   Oh well, I guess that's it for that then.

both:

• aivan
• juuri
• justiin
• justiinsa
• justsa

adverb:

• ihan
• tarkalleen
• täsmälleen

From Latin iūstus, jūstus.

just

1. just, right, correct, proper
2. exact
3. adequate
4. apt

• justeapont
• justeben

• justâ
• juste
• justece
• justificâ
• justizie

Borrowed from Latin iūste, iūstus.

• IPA^(key): /jʊst/

• Audio

  (file)

just

1. (higher register) just

   Synonyms: gerade, (archaic) justament

   just in dem Moment als… ― just at the moment as…

   • 1808, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust: Der Tragödie erster Teil [Faust, Part One]‎:

     Sie ging just vorbey.

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

• “just” in Duden online
• “just” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

• IPA^(key): [just]

just (tr., 1st conj., pres. jūtu, jūti, jūt, past jutu)

1. to feel (to perceive with one's sense organs)

   just aukstumu, karstumu, sāpes ― to feel cold, heat, pain

   tā, ka nejūt zemi zem kājām ― such that s/he doesn't feel the earth under his/her feet (= very fast)

2. to sense
3. to palp
4. to have a sensation

prefixed verbs:

• izjust
• pajust
• sajust

other derived terms:

• justies

just

1. third-person singular past historic of gesir

• IPA^(key): /ʝi.ˈust/

just m pl

1. masculine plural of jóst

Borrowed from French juste, Latin jūstus, iūstus.

• IPA^(key): /ʒust/

just m or n (feminine singular justă, masculine plural juști, feminine and neuter plural juste)

1. just, correct

• drept, adevărat, echitabil

• IPA^(key): /jɵst/, [ʝɵsˑt]

• audio

  (file)

just (not comparable)

1. just; quite recently; only moments ago
2. just; only, simply
3. exactly, precisely

   just nu ― right now

   Det var just vad jag ville ha!

   That's just what I wanted!

• → Finnish: just