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

Maldonado said key witnesses had admitted to committing perjury during his trial. —Jonathan Granoff, Newsweek, 29 Jan. 2025

And, now that Mosby has been convicted for fraud and perjury, Cumming’s decision to not waver in holding her accountable looks all the better. —David Williams, Baltimore Sun, 29 Jan. 2025

The 18th Judicial District Attorney's office announced in a Friday post on X that James Toliver Craig faces two additional charges of solicitation to commit murder in the first degree and solicitation to commit perjury in the first degree. —Christina Coulter, Fox News, 25 Nov. 2024

Harry and a group including Hugh Grant are now pushing for police to investigate NGN over perjury and broader cover-ups. —Max Goldbart, Deadline, 29 Jan. 2025

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