forensic
English
WOTD – 3 September 2008
Alternative forms
- forensick (obsolete)
Etymology
Etymology tree
From Latin forēnsis (“of the forum, public”) + -ic, from forum (“forum, marketplace”).[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fəˈɹɛn.zɪk/, /fəˈɹɛn.sɪk/
Audio (US); /fəˈɹɛn.zɪk/: (file) Audio (US); /fəˈɹɛn.sɪk/: (file) Audio (Australia): (file)
Adjective
forensic (not comparable)
- Relating to the use of science and technology in the investigation and establishment of facts or evidence in a court of law.
- forensic analysis; forensic examination; forensic evidence; forensic investigation; forensic pathologist
- 2012 August 21, Ed Pilkington, “Death penalty on trial: should Reggie Clemons live or die?”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 October 2026:
- In this account of events, the cards were stacked against Clemons from the beginning. His appeal lawyers have argued that he was physically beaten into making a confession, the jury was wrongfully selected and misdirected, and his conviction largely achieved on individual testimony with no supporting forensic evidence presented.
- 1996 June 8, Bill Clinton, Weekly Presidential radio Address:
- Fire investigators […] and forensic chemists are combing through fire sites [the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing], interviewing witnesses, and following leads.
- (dated) Relating to, or appropriate for, courts of law; suitable or adapted to legal argumentation.
- 1851, Edward Shepherd Creasy, “Chapter V”, in The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World:
- Varus trusted implicitly […] to the interest which they affected to take in the forensic eloquence of their conquerors.
- 1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 164:
- Mr. Philips’ incredulous sniff was a triumph of forensic skill.
- (informal) Precise, thorough, or highly meticulous, by analogy with a scientific legal investigation.
- A forensic account of history
- With forensic precision
- 1885, Isaac N. Arnold, “Chapter VIII”, in The Life of Abraham Lincoln:
- It [the judiciary] had been the forum before which the highest forensic discussions had been held, […]
- Relating to forms of disability associated with criminal risk.
- a forensic learning disability
- patients with forensic needs
- (archaic) Relating to, or used in, debate or argument.
Synonyms
- (Related or appropriate for a court of law): legal
- (Related or used in debate and argumentation): rhetorical
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
relating to the use of science and technology in the investigation and establishment of facts or evidence in a court of law
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relating to, or appropriate for courts of law
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relating to, or used in debate or argument
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References
- ^ “forensic, adj. and n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
Anagrams
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰwer-
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *h₁én
- English terms derived from Italic languages
- English terms derived from Proto-Italic
- English terms suffixed with -ic
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Etruscan
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
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- English lemmas
- English adjectives
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