Hopkinton, New Hampshire - Retired US Supreme Court justice David Souter has died aged 85 at his home in New Hampshire, the nation's highest court said in a statement.

Souter, who was appointed to the court in 1990, retired in 2009 after serving nearly two decades on the bench.

Appointed by Republican president George H.W. Bush, Souter disappointed conservatives by allying with the liberal wing of the court, including by reaffirming a constitutional right to abortion in 1992.

Souter "died peacefully" on Thursday, the Supreme Court said in a statement on Friday. No cause of death was given.

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Chief Justice John Roberts said Souter "brought uncommon wisdom and kindness to a lifetime of public service" and would be "greatly missed."

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who replaced Souter on the bench after his retirement, called him a "man of honor" who had joined the court "purely out of a sense of duty to the country."

"When I arrived at the Court, no one was more welcoming to me than David," Sotomayor said in a statement.

"After his retirement, he periodically sent me notes, which I will forever treasure for their insightfulness and beautiful turns of phrase."

In the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey ruling which upheld the right to an abortion, Souter joined justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy in writing the majority opinion: "The ability of women to participate equally in the economic and social life of the nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives."

Overruling the essence of the landmark abortion rights case, Roe v. Wade, the justices added, would come "at the cost of both profound and unnecessary damage to the Court's legitimacy, and to the Nation's commitment to the rule of law."

Souter was born in Melrose, Massachusetts on September 17, 1939.

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He was a Rhodes Scholar and graduated from Harvard College, Oxford University and Harvard Law School.

Souter also served as an assistant attorney general, deputy attorney general and attorney general of New Hampshire from 1968 to 1978.

He became a judge in 1978 when he was named associate justice of the Superior Court of New Hampshire, and five years later was appointed to the Supreme Court of the state as an associate justice.

After his retirement from the Supreme Court, Souter became a judge of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and also championed civics education curriculum reform efforts in New Hampshire.