From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
jurist
n 1: a legal scholar versed in civil law or the law of nations
[syn: legal expert]
2: a public official authorized to decide questions bought
before a court of justice [syn: judge, justice,
magistrate]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Jurist \Ju`rist\, n. [F. juriste, LL. jurista, fr. L. jus,
juris, right, law. See Just, a.]
One who professes the science of law; one versed in the law,
especially in the civil law, such as a judge, lawyer, or
legal scholar; a writer on civil and international law.
[1913 Webster]
It has ever been the method of public jurists to draw a
great part of the analogies on which they form the law
of nations from the principles of law which prevail in
civil community. --Burke.
Juristic