perjury

noun

per·​ju·​ry ˈpər-jə-rē 

ˈpərj-rē

: the voluntary violation of an oath or vow either by swearing to what is untrue or by omission to do what has been promised under oath : false swearing

Did you know?

The prefix per- in Latin often meant "harmfully". So witnesses who perjure themselves do harm to the truth by knowingly telling a lie. Not all lying is perjury, only lying under oath; so perjury generally takes place either in court or before a legislative body such as Congress. To avoid committing perjury, a witness or defendant may "take the Fifth": that is, refuse to answer a question because the answer might be an admission of guilt, and the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution forbids forcing a citizen to admit to being guilty of a crime.

Examples of perjury in a Sentence

He was found guilty of perjury.

Recent Examples on the Web

Prosecutors filed two new charges against James Craig last week - solicitation to commit murder as well as solicitation to commit perjury. —CBS News, 28 Nov. 2024

James Craig, who was charged and pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder last year in the killing of Angela Craig, is now also accused of first-degree solicitation to commit perjury, the state's 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. —Tim Stelloh, NBC News, 23 Nov. 2024

On Friday, he was additionally charged with first-degree solicitation to commit perjury and solicitation to commit first-degree murder. —Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 23 Nov. 2024

James Toliver Craig faces two new charges of solicitation to commit murder in the first-degree and solicitation to commit perjury in the first-degree, the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office announced in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter). —Kimberlee Speakman, People.com, 23 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

perjury

noun

per·​ju·​ry ˈpərj-(ə-)rē 

plural perjuries

: the act or crime of swearing to what one knows is untrue

Legal Definition

perjury

noun

per·​ju·​ry ˈpər-jə-rē 

plural perjuries

: the act or crime of knowingly making a false statement (as about a material matter) while under oath or bound by an affirmation or other officially prescribed declaration that what one says, writes, or claims is true compare false swearing

Etymology

Anglo-French perjurie, parjurie, from Latin perjurium, from perjurus deliberately giving false testimony, from per- detrimental to + jur-, jus law