perjury

Intermediatezipf 3.31

Pronunciation

/ˈpɜːrdʒəri/(PUR-juh-ree)

Part of speech

nounlaw

Chinese

伪证罪；做伪证

Definition

The criminal offence of deliberately making false statements under oath or affirmation in a court of law or official proceeding.

Word family

  • perjure/ˈpɜːrdʒər/(v)做伪证
  • perjurer(n)伪证者
  • perjurious/pərˈdʒʊəriəs/(adj)

Collocations

  • commit perjury
  • charge of perjury
  • perjury conviction
  • perjury trap
  • suborn perjury

Examples

  1. 1.The witness was charged with perjury after security footage directly contradicted her sworn testimony about being at home that evening. (lying under oath)
  2. 2.Suborning perjury — persuading someone else to lie under oath — is itself a serious criminal offence. (inducing false testimony)

Synonyms

  • false testimony (lying in court)
  • lying under oath (descriptive)

Etymology

from Latin "perjurium" — "per-" (through, wrongly) + "jurare" (to swear) — swearing wrongly, a broken oath