perjury
/ˈpɜː(ɹ)d͡ʒəɹi/ noun
Forms perjuries
- noun (law) The deliberate giving of false or misleading testimony under oath. “We declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.”
Synonyms
oathbreach false testimony testilying testiphony bearing false witness lying under oath
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman perjurie, from Latin perjūrāre (“swear falsely”), from per- + jūrāre. Displaced native Old English mānāþ (literally “false oath”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun False swearing.
- noun At common law, a willfully false statement in a fact material to the issue, made by a witness under oath in a competent judicial proceeding. By statute the penalties of perjury are imposed on the making of willfully false affirmations.
Etymology [L. perjurium. See Perjure, v.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “perjury”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details