judge

v. preside over a court trial and make decisions; rule, determine; criticize; assess; act as a judge

n. one who presides over court trials; one who chooses the winner in a contest, arbiter; expert, critic

A judge or justice is an official who presides over a court. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions.
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(v. t.)
To hear and determine by authority, as a case before a court, or a controversy between two parties.
  

(v. t.)
To exercise the functions of a magistrate over; to govern.
  

(v. t.)
To examine and pass sentence on; to try; to doom.
  

(v. t.)
To determine upon or deliberation; to esteem; to think; to reckon.
  

(v. t.)
To compare facts or ideas, and perceive their relations and attributes, and thus distinguish truth from falsehood; to determine; to discern; to distinguish; to form an opinion about.
  

(v. t.)
To arrogate judicial authority over; to sit in judgment upon; to be censorious toward.
  

(v. i.)
The title of the seventh book of the Old Testament; the Book of Judges.
  

(v. i.)
One who has skill, knowledge, or experience, sufficient to decide on the merits of a question, or on the quality or value of anything; one who discerns properties or relations with skill and readiness; a connoisseur; an expert; a critic.
  

(v. i.)
One of supreme magistrates, with both civil and military powers, who governed Israel for more than four hundred years.
  

(v. i.)
A public officer who is invested with authority to hear and determine litigated causes, and to administer justice between parties in courts held for that purpose.
  

(v. i.)
A person appointed to decide in a/trial of skill, speed, etc., between two or more parties; an umpire; as, a judge in a horse race.
  

(a.)
To hear and determine, as in causes on trial; to decide as a judge; to give judgment; to pass sentence.
  

(a.)
To assume the right to pass judgment on another; to sit in judgment or commendation; to criticise or pass adverse judgment upon others. See Judge, v. t., 3.
  

An officer appointed to administer the law and who has authority to hear and try cases in a Court of law 

Government official with authority to decide lawsuits brought before courts. Other judicial officers in the U.S. courts system are Supreme Court justices.

A public officer, lawfully appointed to decide litigated questions according to law. This, in its most extensive sense, includes all officers who are appointed to decide such questions and not only judges properly so called, but also justices of the peace and jurors, who are judges of the facts in issue. In a more limited sense, the term judge signifies an officer who is so named in his commission and who presides in some court.

Judges are appointed or elected in a variety of ways; in the United States they are appointed by the president by and with the consent of the senate; in some of the states they are appointed by the governor, the governor and senate or by the legislature. In the United States and some of the states, they hold their offices during good behaviour; in others, as in New York, during good behaviour or until they shall attain a certain age, and in others for a limited term of years.

Impartiality is the first duty of a judge; before he gives an opinion or sits in judgment in a cause he ought to be certain that he has no bias for or against either of the parties; and if he has any (the slightest) interest in the cause he is disqualified from sitting as judge and when he is aware of such interest he ought himself to refuse to sit on the case. It seems it is discretionary with him whether he will sit in a cause in which he has been of counsel. But the delicacy which characterizes the judges in this country, generally forbids their sitting in such a cause. He must not only be impartial, but he must follow and enforce the law, whether good or bad. He is bound to declare what the law is and not to make it; he is not an arbitrator, but an interpreter of the law. It is his duty to be patient in the investigation of the case, careful in considering it and firm in his judgment. He ought, according to Cicero, 'never to lose sight that he is a man and that he cannot exceed the power given him by his commission; that not only power, but public confidence has been given to him; that he ought always seriously to attend not to his wishes but to the requisitions of law, of justice and religion.'

While acting within the bounds of his jurisdiction, the judge is hot responsible for any error of judgment nor mistake he may commit as a judge.

A judge is not competent as a witness in a cause trying before him, for he can hardly be deemed capable of impartially deciding on the admissibility of his own testimony or of weighing it against that of another.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.

PRO TEM, JUDGE - A temporary judge. A judge pro tem is not a regular judge, but someone (usually a lawyer) who is brought in to serve temporarily as a judge with the consent of the parties. Many courts use pro tem judges because there are too many cases for the regular judges to handle. Although every party has the right to have his case heard by a real judge, judges pro tem are often practitioners in the field in which they are asked to hear cases and have as much, if not more, knowledge than a real judge. Pro tem judges are used often in family law cases, especially in default divorces.