Perjury
/ˈpɜːr.dʒə.ri/noun
The offense of knowingly lying after swearing an oath to tell the truth.
Did you know?Perjury comes from Latin perjurium, from per- “through, utterly” + jurare “to swear,” so the crime was originally framed as a violation of sworn power, not just a lie.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*yewes-
“to vow, swear”
Latin
Latin
iurare
“to swear an oath”
Late Latin
Latin
periurium
“false swearing, perjury”
Old French
Old French
perjurie
“perjury, false oath”
Middle English
English
perjurie
“the act of swearing falsely”
Modern English
English
perjury
“the crime of knowingly making a false statement under oath”