Perjurie

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of deliberately giving false evidence while under oath in a legal proceeding
2. Willfully swearing to statements known to be untrue during testimony in court or before an official authority
3. Intentionally providing false sworn statements or evidence in a judicial or official setting

Etymology: Before "perjury" settled into its modern spelling, English writers in the late Middle Ages wrote "perjurie," borrowed through Old French "parjurie" from Latin "perjurium." The Latin came from "perjurare," meaning to swear falsely, built from "per-," which here suggests wrongdoing or going astray, and "jurare," to swear. The same "jurare" root sits behind "jury" and "juror." A jury is, at root, a body sworn to tell the truth, which makes the oath-breaking of perjury the exact opposite of the duty jurors take on. The "per-" in these words is a prefix of wrongdoing, so "perjure" literally means to swear amiss. Its English use is recorded from the later Middle Ages, and the spelling "perjurie" shows the French ending -ie still visible before English standardized the form we use now.