Meanings
- not comparablelaw(of a judge etc.) Having completed one's involvement in a matter (e.g. at the end of a court case), so that one no longer has jurisdiction to revisit it.
1 more example
A court loses jurisdiction, and is thus said to be functus officio, once the formal judgment has been entered […] After this point, the court is understood only to have the power to amend the judgment in very limited circumstances, such as where there is a statutory basis to do so, where necessary to correct an error in expressing its manifest intention, or where the matter has not been heard on its merits.
2021 September 24, Nicolas Kasirer, “Canadian Broadcasting Corp. v. Manitoba, 2021 SCC 33”, in CanLII, retrieved 25 Feb 2025Synonyms: functus
Synonyms & antonyms
adjective(of a judge etc.) Having completed one's involvement in a matter (e.g. at the end of a court case), so that one no longer has jurisdiction to revisit it.
Origin
- Latinfunctus
- Englishfunctus officio
From Latin functus officio (“having performed one's duty”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
functus officio. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/functus%20officio
“functus officio.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/functus%20officio. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “functus officio,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/functus%20officio.
Source: functus officio on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.