Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1815-1825, 1894-1897
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
JUSTIFY, v. Also justifee. Sc. usage: to do justice upon, to punish, esp. to punish with death, to execute. Now only liter. and arch.Sc. 1815 Scott Waverley lxviii.:
Ony six o' the best of his clan will be willing to be justified in his stead.Gall. 1825 J. Denniston Legends Gall. 70:
Just ae bit wink that our landlord gied me, that let me ken there was help at hand, an' that I wadna be justified the day.Sc. 1894 Stevenson W. Hermiston v.:
Justifeed wi' seeven mair of the same name at Jeddart.Fif. 1897 W. Beatty Secretar I. 11:
Now I would gang . . . to the Grass Market to see some poor wretch justified.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Justify v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 7 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/justify>
