perjury
/ˈpəːdʒ(ə)ri
/noun (plural perjuries) [mass noun] Law
The offence of wilfully telling an untruth or making a misrepresentation under oath: he claimed two witnesses at his trial had committed perjury...
- Another antique rule provided that a corporation could not be indicted for a felony like perjury.
- Your Honour, the prosecution witnesses committed perjury throughout the whole trial.
- That trial proceeded, I prosecuted, and the jury duly convicted him of perjury.
Synonyms
lying under oath, violation of an oath, giving false evidence/testimony, bearing false witness/testimony, forswearing oneself, making false statements, wilful falsehood;
mendacity, mendaciousness
Derivatives
perjurious
/ adjective ...- The credible testimony presented by defence witnesses establishes conclusively that prosecution witnesses lied, and that the prosecutor suborned the perjurious testimony.
- That when push comes to shove, the bureau will take the perjurious word of her slimy psychotic husband.
- It that it allows us to seek out and discredit false and perjurious statements.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French perjurie, from Latin perjurium 'false oath', from the verb perjurare (see perjure).
jury from Late Middle English:
This comes from the Latin word jurare ‘to swear’. Early juries had to swear that they would give true answers to questions asked of them which related to their personal knowledge of an event they had witnessed or experienced. If you did not do this you committed perjury (Late Middle English) from the Latin for ‘false oath’.