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peremptory

UK/pəˈɹɛmptəɹi/
adjectiveC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,542 of 15,258leans written

Peremptory means giving an order that allows no argument. A peremptory tone, a peremptory summons, peremptorily dismissed.

It is about manner as much as authority, since a peremptory instruction closes the matter by how it is said. In law a peremptory challenge lets a party reject a juror without giving any reason.

Definitions of peremptory

  1. 1adjectiveperemptoryGiving an order that allows no argument.C2

    “'Sit down,' she said in a peremptory tone, and nobody dared to argue.”

peremptory is a quality.

Where it comes from

Latin peremptorius means decisive, from perimere, to destroy or cut off.

  1. Latin

    peremptōrius — deadly; precluding debate, decisive

  2. Anglo-Norman

    peremptorie

  3. English, today

    peremptory

Built from

  • perimō · Latin — destroy, thwart
  • per- · Latin — thorough
  • emō · Latin — to obtain, buy

From Anglo-Norman peremptorie, parentorie et al. (Modern French péremptoire), and its source, Latin peremptōrius (“deadly; precluding debate, decisive”), from perimō (“destroy, thwart”), from per- (“thorough”) + emō (“to obtain, buy”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

peremptory in the wild

  • Acceptable pleas vary among jurisdictions, but they generally include guilty, not guilty, and the peremptory pleas (pleas in bar) setting out reasons why a trial cannot proceed.

    Arraignment

  • A peremptory writ directs the recipient to immediately act, or desist, and "return" the writ, with certification of its compliance, within a certain time.

    Writ of prohibition

  • The case gave rise to the term Batson challenge, an objection to a peremptory challenge based on the standard established by the Supreme Court's decision in this case.

    Batson v. Kentucky

  • Hernandez is recognized as expanding a Batson challenge to a peremptory strike based on a juror's ethnicity.

    Hernandez v. New York

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.