just - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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'
• iust (obsolete)

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒʌst/
• (adverb, unstressed) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒəs(t)/
• (dialectal) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɛst/, /d͡ʒɪst/, /d͡ʒʊst/ (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, (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.

   • 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, 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.
4. Proper, adequate.

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

• unjust

• justice

just (not comparable)

2. Only, simply, merely.

   Just plant a few tomatoes, unless you can freeze or dry them.

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

   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     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.
   1. Introduces a disappointing or surprising outcome that renders futile something previously mentioned.

      I spent two hours cooking my favorite recipe, just to burn the rice and ruin the meal.

      I helped him out just for him to betray me.

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

   Just follow the directions on the box.

4. Used to convey a less serious or formal tone

   I just called to say "hi".

5. (chiefly Christianity) Used to show humility, earnestness, devotion, etc., during prayer or worship.

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

6. (degree) absolutely, positively

   It is just splendid!

   just fine

8. Moments ago, recently.

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

   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     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.

9. By a narrow margin; closely.

   The fastball just missed my head!

   The piece just might fit.
10. Exactly, precisely, perfectly.

    He wants everything just right for the big day.

    • c. 1580 (date written), Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “[The Second Booke] Chapter 19”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC, folio 122, recto:

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

    • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [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/
• Rhymes: -ʌst

just (plural justs)

1. A joust, tournament.

   • 1928, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 11, in Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle‎^[1], 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, 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, →ISBN, § 12, page 27.
• “just”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “just”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

• UJTs, juts

Inherited from Old Catalan just, from Latin iūstus.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈʒust]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈd͡ʒust]

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

1. fair; just

   Antonym: injust

2. perfect, almost perfect

• 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, 2025
• “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 (not comparable)

1. exactly, precisely, just

   Sa tulid just parajal ajal.

   You came exactly 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/, [ˈjus̠t]
• Rhymes: -ust
• Hyphenation^(key): just

just (colloquial)

1. just, exactly, precisely, perfectly

   Just niin siinä kävi.

   That's exactly what happened.

   Sen pitää olla just eikä melkein.

   It has to be just right, not almost.

2. recently, just now

   Se oli just tässä.

   He was here just a minute ago.

just (colloquial)

1. 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

• “just”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

From Latin iūstus, jūstus.

just

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

• justeapont
• justeben

• justâ
• juste
• justece
• justificâ
• justizie

Derived from Latin iūste, iūstus, perhaps via Middle Dutch juust.

• IPA^(key): /jʊst/

just

1. (higher register) just

   Synonyms: gerade, (archaic) justament

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

• “just” in Duden online
• “just” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• Friedrich Kluge (1989) “just”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 344

Ultimately from a Germanic language (compare Middle Low German just and Swedish just). Related to Estonian just and Finnish just.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈjust/, [ˈjus̠t]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈjust/, [ˈjuʃt]
• Rhymes: -ust
• Hyphenation: just

just

1. exactly

   just niin ― just so

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 111

• IPA^(key): [just]

just (transitive, 1st conjugation, present 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

   Synonyms: drept, adevărat, echitabil

• IPA^(key): /jɵst/, [ʝɵsˑt]

just (not comparable)

1. just (quite recently, only moments ago)

   Jag kom just hem

   I just got home

2. exactly, precisely

   Just det!

   That's right! (idiomatic)

   Det var just vad jag ville ha!

   That's just what I wanted!

   Det är just det som är problemet

   That's precisely the problem

   1. (focus) particularly, in particular, specifically (compare similar usage in English "That's just the guy I saw" and the like)

      Just på det här området finns det gott om utrymme för förbättringar

      In this particular area, there is plenty of room for improvement

      skräddarsydda lösningar för just dina behov

      tailor-made solutions for your specific needs

      Just idag är jag stark

      Today in particular I am strong / This particular day I am strong (or just "Today I am strong," putting emphasis on today) – song lyrics

Can be understood as English just except lacking the only sense. "Det är just lite regn" (It's precisely a little rain – likely nonsensical) can be understood as "It's just a little rain" if read as "It's just (precisely) a little rain," which is the natural reading in Swedish without the only sense.

• → Finnish: just

• bara (“only”) (for when English just means only – a sense Swedish just does not have)
• nättupp
• precis

• just in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• just in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• just in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)