WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Ver"dict
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [OE. verdit, OF. verdit, veirdit, LL. verdictum, veredictum; L. vere truly (fr. verus true) + dictum a saying, a word, fr. dicere, dictum, to say. See Very, and Dictum.]
Definition : 1. (Law)

Defn: The answer of a jury given to the court concerning any matter of fact in any cause, civil or criminal, committed to their examination and determination; the finding or decision of a jury on the matter legally submitted to them in the course of the trial of a cause.

Note: The decision of a judge or referee, upon an issue of fact, is not called a verdict, but a finding, or a finding of fact. Abbott.

2. Decision; judgment; opinion pronounced; as, to be condemned by the verdict of the public. These were enormities condemned by the most natural verdict of common humanity. South. Two generations have since confirmed the verdict which was pronounced on that night. Macaulay.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913