In law, a verdict is the judgment of a case before a court of law. The term literally means "to speak the truth" and is derived from Middle English verdit, from Anglo-Norman: a compound of ver ("true," from the Latin vērus) and dit ("speech," from the Latin dictum, the neuter form of dīcere, to tell or to speak).
In a criminal case, the verdict is either an acquittal ("not guilty") or a conviction ("guilty"), except in Scotland which also has the verdict of "Not Proven" available to a jury. Different counts may have different verdicts, and a conviction will be followed by sentencing.
In a civil case, the verdict may be a judgment such as ordering one party to pay money to the other.
