In American English, write judgment for every sense: Trust your judgment. Courts on both sides of the Atlantic normally use the same spelling for their decisions: The court entered judgment for the plaintiff. Judgement, with the e, is also correct, and it is common in British English for the everyday senses: an opinion, or the ability to make good decisions.
Neither spelling is a mistake, so the real rule is consistency. An editor will notice judgement on page 2 and judgment on page 9, whichever one they prefer.
Judgment vs judgement at a glance
| You are writing | Opinion, good sense | A court's decision |
|---|---|---|
| You are writingAmerican English | Opinion, good sensejudgment | A court's decisionjudgment |
| You are writingBritish English, general writing | Opinion, good sensejudgement (judgment also used) | A court's decisionjudgment |
| You are writingFor a publisher with a style guide | Opinion, good sensewhatever the guide says | A court's decisionwhatever the guide says |
What judgment means
Whichever way you spell it, the word has the same four senses, all from the verb judge:
- The ability to decide well: She has good judgment about people. It was a lapse of judgment.
- An opinion formed after thinking it over: In my judgment, the second draft is stronger.
- A decision by a court or a judge: The judgment was handed down on Friday. a summary judgment
- The act of judging, including in a religious sense: a day of judgment, to pass judgment on someone
Everyday phrases built on it include a judgment call, to reserve judgment, against my better judgment, an error of judgment and value judgment. Each one takes the same spelling as the rest of your document.
Where the two spellings come from
The word came into English in the Middle Ages from the French jugement, and early writers spelled it many ways. Merriam-Webster notes that judgement is in fact the older spelling, and that today judgment is the more popular one in the United States, while both make a good showing in Britain.
There is a logic to the e. English normally keeps the silent e of a word when it adds a suffix that starts with a consonant: manage → management, encourage → encouragement, achieve → achievement. Judgement follows that pattern. Judgment drops the e the way argue → argument does, and argument, oddly, is spelled without the e on both sides of the Atlantic. So neither form is the "logical" one in a way that settles the argument.
What dictionaries and style guides say
Merriam-Webster lists judgment first, with judgement as a variant. The Oxford Learner's Dictionaries do the reverse: their headword is judgement, with judgment noted as the spelling used especially in North American English, and they mark the court sense "usually judgment."
The Chicago Manual of Style takes its spellings from Merriam-Webster and uses the first one listed, which gives judgment. A newspaper, a journal or a company with its own style guide may have decided either way, and its guide has the final word.
So the regional split and the legal exception sit together. In American English, judgment covers everything. In British English, judgement is common for opinions and good sense, while a court's ruling is usually a judgment, without the e.
The same choice in other words
A handful of words built on -dge plus -ment offer the same choice, and the same regional pattern usually applies. Decide them together, so the document doesn't keep the e in one word and drop it in the next.
| American preference | British preference | Note |
|---|---|---|
| American preferencejudgment | British preferencejudgement | Notejudgment for court decisions in both |
| American preferenceacknowledgment | British preferenceacknowledgement | Noteboth appear in both varieties; book sections are often “Acknowledgments” in the US |
| American preferenceabridgment | British preferenceabridgement | Notean abridged edition of a book |
| American preferencejudgmental | British preferencejudgemental | Notefollows whichever spelling you chose for judgment |
| American preferenceargument | British preferenceargument | Noteno choice: no e anywhere |
If your thesis or book has an acknowledgments page, the guide to dissertation acknowledgements covers what to write in it; the spelling of the heading is the same decision as the one on this page.
How to choose for your document
- Follow the house style if there is one
A journal, a publisher, a newspaper or a company style guide may already have decided. If it follows Chicago, the answer is judgment.
- Otherwise, match the variety of English
Writing American English: judgment everywhere. Writing British English for general readers: judgement for opinion and good sense, judgment for a court's ruling.
- Use judgment for a court's decision
When the word means the ruling of a court or a judge, use judgment in American and British English alike.
- Write it down once
Add the decision to your style sheet along with acknowledgment and abridgment. On a long project, the style sheet is what keeps chapter 12 from drifting back to the other spelling.
- Leave quotations and titles alone
Don't change the spelling inside a direct quotation, a book title or the name of a law. Quote them as they were published, even if they disagree with your choice.
Examples in sentences
American English:
- Trust your judgment on the cover; you know the readers.
- The court entered a judgment for the plaintiff.
- It was a judgment call, and I'd make it again.
- Against my better judgment, I sent the draft on Friday night.
- Try to read the first chapter without passing judgment.
British English:
- Trust your judgement on the cover; you know the readers.
- The Supreme Court's judgment ran to ninety pages.
- It was an error of judgement, and the editor said so.
- She's a good judge of character, and her judgement is rarely wrong.
- The judge reserved judgment until the new year.
Sentences 7 and 10 keep judgment in British English because they refer to a court.
Make one spelling stick
On a long document, the two spellings creep in from different places: a pasted paragraph, a co-author's section, an old draft. Search for judg to find every form at once, including judgmental, and fix the strays, but leave quotations, titles and the names of laws as published.
In Strokes, you can also ask the Strokes Assistant to list every judgement or judgment, and every acknowledgement or acknowledgment, with the sentence it appears in.
For pairs where one spelling is simply wrong, see principal vs principle and led vs lead.
Frequently asked questions
Is judgement spelled with an e in British English?
Often, in everyday writing. The Oxford Learner's Dictionaries give judgement as the main spelling, and Merriam-Webster notes that both spellings make a good showing in Britain. For the decision of a court, British English usually writes judgment without the e. Since both are correct, check the house style of the publication you write for.
Is judgement wrong in American English?
It isn't an error: Merriam-Webster lists judgement as a variant. But judgment is the more popular spelling in the United States, Chicago style uses it, and American readers expect it. When the word means a court's decision, judgment is the usual spelling in any variety of English, so it is the safe choice.
Is it judgmental or judgemental?
Both are correct, with the same split: judgmental is the American spelling and judgemental is common in British English. Match it to the spelling of judgment you use in the rest of the document, so a reader doesn't see judgement and judgmental side by side.
Is it acknowledgment or acknowledgement?
Both are correct. American English leans toward acknowledgment and British English toward acknowledgement, though both appear in both. Make the same choice you made for judgment, and use it for the heading of a book's or thesis's acknowledgments section as well as in the text.
