petty jury
- noun
- /ˈpɛti ˈdʒʊəri/
- Formal
:
jurado
- The petty jury deliberated for hours before reaching a verdict.
Examples
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The petty jury reached a unanimous verdict.
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A petty jury is responsible for determining the facts in a criminal trial.
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Both the prosecution and the defense questioned prospective members of the petty jury.
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A petty jury consists of twelve members.
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The judge called for a petty jury to hear the evidence in the civil case.
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After much deliberation, the petty jury returned with a unanimous verdict.
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The defendant's fate was in the hands of the petty jury, who would determine the facts of the trial.
Synonyms
∞
2.5
A group of people sworn to listen to evidence in a court and give a verdict
1
7.7
Twelve people who listen to a trial and decide the facts and the verdict
1
7.7
A group of people chosen for their special knowledge to decide a legal case
Antonyms
- Formal
259
6.2
A group of citizens who decide if there is enough evidence to charge someone with a crime
Surface Forms
Morphology
The element 'jury' clearly signals a legal body, and 'petty' suggests small or minor, so learners can infer this is a particular type of jury; however the precise legal sense (a trial jury of twelve people deciding facts) is a specialized, historically derived meaning (from French petit) that is not directly predictable from modern English 'petty' meaning 'trivial'. Because the constituents give a partial clue but do not yield the full, specific legal interpretation for a B1 learner, the expression is best classified as semi-transparent.
Etymology
Petty jury comes from the old French word 'petit', meaning 'small', so petty literally meant 'small' and jury is a group of people chosen to decide a case. The name showed this was the smaller group that decides the facts in a trial and not a 'grand jury', so today petty jury means a small group of citizens who decide the facts and the verdict.