Judgment or Judgement

[walkthedinosaur]

Which is the correct spelling? After spending nearly 20 years working in legal I have always spelled it judgment any other way was completely wrong. Also, I'm sure I remember reading in the Times or some other paper of the same ilk a little while ago that judgment is the correct spelling but because people spell it judgement so often it has become socially acceptable.

I ask because I have just received a proof reading course with the word judgement all over it and it just sits badly with me.

Which is the correct version?

Isn't it a legal 'judgment', but otherwise it's 'judgement'?

I thought they were both 'judgement'- though of course it looks odd now as I have thought about it far too much!

A judge delivers a judgment.
In my judgement, this is the correct spelling.

seems also to depend on what spelling rules you use - Oxford or British.

see here

My 1966 copy of the Oxford Etymological dictionary has judg(e)ment. I think that means you can use either.

Though it does have judgmatic -al a bit later. And under judicial it says "so judicious exercising judgment"

My 1966 copy of the Oxford Etymological dictionary has judg(e)ment. I think that means you can use either.

Though it does have judgmatic -al a bit later. And under judicial it says "so judicious exercising judgment"

oops, sorry for double post

In UK English, either is a correct variant, with judgement slightly more standard. In US English only judgment is correct.

I'd guess that for proofing the thing would be to check for consistency. Or if the document is US English raise a query.

I had thought that in the broader context either is acceptable. and given that in the legal context only judgment is correct I use judgment for both. maybe that's wrong and you should use both - but I don't like that much - especially in the same document.

just seen the other posts. good. I'm going to stick to using judgment for everything

sorry for bumping an old thread -but guess what - this was one of the first links when I googled this question