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

Mosby was convicted on two federal counts of perjury and one count of federal mortgage fraud following two trials ending in early 2024. —Mikenzie Frost, Baltimore Sun, 16 Dec. 2024

Elizabeth Goodson has agreed to plead guilty to one count of perjury, the complaint says. —Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 12 Dec. 2024

Advertisement Prosecutors allege that each fraudulent registration form included Boyer’s home address and was signed under penalty of perjury, and the handwriting appeared to be consistent with the writing on Boyer’s previous forms filled out while running for public office. —Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024

James Toliver Craig, 45, was charged with 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 social media post. —Mollie Markowitz, Fox News, 2 Dec. 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