justice of the peace
9
4.5
- noun
- /ˈdʒʌstɪs əv ðə piːs/
- Formal
:
juez de paz
- His aunt Estelle finally found a justice of the peace over in the next county.
- appoint justices of the peace
The first time I got married to Jake's dad, we went to the justice of the peace.
- The first time I got married to Jake's dad, we went to the justice of the peace.
Examples
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We had a June wedding, by ourselves at the justice of the peace.
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LaVerne and Elmer were married in the morning by a justice of the peace.
Fiction book (1990) -
- What if you and me went to the justice of the peace tomorrow.
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We could just go to a justice of the peace.
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We'll go to a justice of the peace.
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- The local justice of the peace.
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We can have the justice of the peace perform the ceremony right here.
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"We got married in a simple ceremony down at the justice of the peace."
Fiction book (1999) -
Since no minister will perform the ceremony, a justice of the peace will preside.
Fiction book (2002) -
We can have the justice of the peace perform the ceremony right here.
Synonyms
63
7.2
A local official who hears small legal cases and decides on minor crimes or disputes
A paid professional judge in Britain who deals with minor crimes and police cases
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'justice' (a judicial officer) + 'of the peace' (relating to public order) yields a judge responsible for keeping the peace and handling minor legal matters. This construction is transparent and has direct equivalents in many languages (e.g. Spanish 'juez de paz'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words should be able to infer the meaning.
Etymology
The term justice of the peace comes from old local officials whose job was to keep the peace and give simple justice to people in their area. They handled small problems, witnessed papers and married couples, so today the phrase means a local official who handles 'minor legal duties' and helps 'keep the peace'.