# voir dire

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈvwɑː ˌdɪə/

## Definitions
1. The preliminary phase of a jury trial in which the jurors are examined and selected.
2. A preliminary hearing without a jury in order to determine whether the evidence meets the test for admissibility to go to a full hearing at a criminal trial, in the legal systems of England and Wales, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.
3. A hearing in the context of a larger trial to determine some specific issue relevant to that trial, such as the admissibility of a piece of evidence or the competency of a witness to testify.

## Etymology
Anglo-Norman for “to say the truth”, from Old French voir (“true, truth”) + dire (“to say”), from Latin vērum + dīcere.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/voir-dire