裁く

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 裁く is read as さばく and is a transitive verb meaning to try a legal case or to judge whether someone’s conduct is right or wrong.
• Basic usage: Trying a case according to evidence appears in 事件を裁く, while judging another person’s conduct on emotion alone appears in 他人の行いを裁く.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Legal and general judgment
  • 事件を裁く means trying a legal case, while 行いを裁く extends the verb to judging another person’s conduct.