jurisprudence

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 23, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>jurisprudence</strong> &#149; \joor-us-PROO-dunss\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> the science or philosophy of law</p> <p><strong>2 a :</strong> a system or body of law</p> <p><strong>b :</strong> the course of court decisions as distinguished from legislation and doctrine</p> <p><strong>3 :</strong> a department of law</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>A basic premise of American <em>jurisprudence</em> is that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.</p> <p>"There is a long-standing tradition in First Amendment <em>jurisprudence</em> that courts should not impose 'prior restraints' on speech." — Jack Greiner, <em>The Cincinnati (Ohio) Enquirer</em>, 24 Nov. 2020</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>"For a farewell to our <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jurisprudent">jurisprudent</a>, I wish unto him the gladsome light of jurisprudence…." With this valedictory to English <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jurist">jurist</a> Sir Thomas Littleton, another jurist, Sir Edward Coke, welcomed two new words into English. In 1628, his <em>jurisprudence</em> meant "knowledge of or skill in law," a now archaic sense that reflects the meaning of the word's root. <em>Jurisprudence</em> goes back to Latin <em>prudentia juris</em> (literally "skill in law"), from which was derived the Late Latin formation <em>jurisprudentia</em>, and subsequently the English word. The noun <em>jurisprudent</em> means "one skilled in law"—in other words, a jurist. There's also <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/legal/jurisprude">jurisprude</a></em>, a somewhat rare 20th-century <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/back-formation">back-formation</a> created from <em>jurisprud