0

(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XVII, published 1892)[1]passage 271

“Yes; I think I understand,” said he. “Suppose I pass you my word that, whatever may have occurred, there were excuses—great excuses—I may say, very great?”

“It would have weight with me, doctor,” I replied.

“I may go further,” he pursued. “Suppose I had been there, or you had been there. After a certain event had taken place, it's a grave question what we might have done—it's even a question what we could have done—ourselves. Or take me. I will be plain with you, and own that I am in possession of the facts. You have a shrewd guess how I have acted in that knowledge. May I ask you to judge from the character of my action, something of the nature of that knowledge, which I have no call, nor yet no title, to share with you?”

I cannot convey a sense of the rugged conviction and judicial emphasis of Dr. Urquart's speech. To those who did not hear him, it may appear as if he fed me on enigmas; to myself, who heard, I seemed to have received a lesson and a compliment.

“I thank you,” I said. “I feel you have said as much as possible, and more than I had any right to ask. I take that as a mark of confidence, which I will try to deserve. I hope, sir, you will let me regard you as a friend.”

He evaded my proffered friendship with a blunt proposal to rejoin the mess . . .

I've looked up the meaning of 'judicial' in the dictionaries https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/judicial but I'm not certain what is meant in this context. In particular the combination with the word 'emphasis' troubles me. Is there a synonym?

Improve this question
8
  • 1
    Voting to close; although you had difficulty finding the right dictionary definition, this is a simple "dictionary-definition" question.
    – Andy Bonner
    Commented Nov 14, 2023 at 21:12
  • 1
    I’m not so sure, @AndyBonner, that it means judgelike. I’d say it simply means reflecting sound judgment.
    – Paul Tanenbaum
    Commented Nov 14, 2023 at 21:13
  • 3
    I might perhaps prefer 'judicious': having, exercising, or characterized by good or discriminating judgment; wise, sensible, or well-advised However, it's not 1892 and I'm not RLS. However OED gives That has or shows sound judgement; judicious. Obs.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Nov 14, 2023 at 21:14
  • 1
    I considered that it's an archaic substitution for judicious, but decided given the context that "marked by the solemnity and weight that a judge's speech might show" was more likely. Hard to say without a larger context and knowing the character and their motivation.
    – Andy Bonner
    Commented Nov 14, 2023 at 21:23
  • 1
    I would understand judicial emphasis there to refer to the nuanced precision with which Urquart defines the salient elements of his hypothetical.
    – TimR
    Commented Nov 14, 2023 at 22:28

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

The Imperial Dictionary by John Ogilvie (1885) has this:

(Meanings of "judicial")

. . .

7.(obsolete) Judicious.

Her brains a quiver of jests, and she does dart them abroad with that sweet, loose, and judicial action. B. Jonson.

judicial

Improve this answer
-1

When you put emphasis on something, or emphasize something, you are drawing attention to it as an important component of your thought. As you might imagine, there are many different kinds of emphasis.

The word judicial is used as an ordinary adjective that describes the kind of emphasis. If you write about a judicial proceeding, you're using the word in a similar fashion to describe a type of proceeding. There's really nothing out of the ordinary here.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .