Other forms: juries
A jury is the group of ordinary citizens who decide guilty or not guilty. Trial by jury, the jury retired, jury service.
In England and Wales a criminal jury is twelve people, chosen at random from the electoral roll, and jury service is a duty rather than a choice. They decide the facts and the judge decides the law. Note hung jury, where no verdict can be reached; jury of your peers; and the jury is still out, meaning a question is not yet settled — which is much the commonest use of the word.
1nounjuryThe group of citizens who decide guilt in a trial.
“The jury found him guilty of robbery.”
2nounpanelA panel judging a competition.
“The jury chose her painting as the winner of the competition.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
jury is a deciding panel.
Anglo-Norman juree comes from Latin iurare, to swear an oath. A jury is a body of the sworn, and jury, juror and perjury all come from the same swearing.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₂yew-
Latin
iūrō — to swear or take an oath
Medieval Latin
iūrāta
Anglo-Norman
juree
Middle English
jure
English, today
jury
From Middle English jure, from Anglo-Norman juree, from Medieval Latin iūrāta, from Latin iūrō (“to swear or take an oath”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA