Just (?), a. [F. juste, L.
justus, fr. jus right, law, justice; orig., that which
is fitting; akin to Skr. yu to join. Cf. Injury,
Judge, Jury, Giusto.]
1. Conforming or conformable to rectitude or
justice; not doing wrong to any; violating no right or obligation;
upright; righteous; honest; true; -- said both of persons and
things. "O just but severe law!" Shak.
There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth
good, and sinneth not.
Eccl. vii. 20.
Just balances, just weights, . . . shall
ye have.
Lev. xix. 36.
How should man be just with God?
Job ix. 2.
We know your grace to be a man.
Just and upright.
Shak.
2. Not transgressing the requirement of truth
and propriety; conformed to the truth of things, to reason, or to a
proper standard; exact; normal; reasonable; regular; due; as, a
just statement; a just inference.
Just of thy word, in every thought
sincere.
Pope.
The prince is here at hand: pleaseth your lordship
To meet his grace just distance 'tween our
armies.
Shak.
He was a comely personage, a little above just
stature.
Bacon.
Fire fitted with just materials casts a
constant heat.
Jer. Taylor.
When all
The war shall stand ranged in its just array.
Addison.
Their named alone would make a just
volume.
Burton.
3. Rendering or disposed to render to each
one his due; equitable; fair; impartial; as, just
judge.
Men are commonly so just to virtue and goodness
as to praise it in others, even when they do not practice it
themselves.
Tillotson.
Just intonation. (Mus.)
(a) The correct sounding of notes or intervals;
true pitch. (b) The giving all chords and
intervals in their purity or their exact mathematical ratio, or
without temperament; a process in which the number of notes
and intervals required in the various keys is much greater than the
twelve to the octave used in systems of temperament. H. W.
Poole.
Syn. -- Equitable; upright; honest; true; fair; impartial;
proper; exact; normal; orderly; regular.
Just, adv. 1.
Precisely; exactly; -- in place, time, or degree; neither more
nor less than is stated.
And having just enough, not covet
more.
Dryden.
The god Pan guided my hand just to the heart of
the beast.
Sir P. Sidney.
To-night, at Herne's oak, just 'twixt twelve
and one.
Shak.
2. Closely; nearly; almost.
Just at the point of death.
Sir W. Temple.
3. Barely; merely; scarcely; only; by a very
small space or time; as, he just missed the train; just
too late.
A soft Etesian gale
But just inspired and gently swelled the sail.
Dryden.
Just now, the least possible time since; a
moment ago.
Just, n. A joust.
Dryden.
Just, v. i. [See Joust.] To
joust. Fairfax.