perjure

See also: perjuré

English

Etymology

From Old French parjurer, from Latin periūrō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɜː(ɹ)d͡ʒə(ɹ)/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)d͡ʒə(ɹ)
• Homophone: purger

Verb

perjure (third-person singular simple present perjures, present participle perjuring, simple past and past participle perjured)

1. (reflexive) To knowingly and willfully make a false statement of witness while in court.

   He perjured himself.

2. (transitive) To cause to violate an oath or a vow; to cause to make oath knowingly to what is untrue; to make guilty of perjury; to forswear; to corrupt.
   • c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene xii]:

     Want will perjure the ne'er-touched vestal.

3. (transitive) To make a false oath to; to deceive by oaths and protestations.
   • 1608, John Fletcher, The Faithful Shepherdess:

     And with a virgin innocence did pray / For me, that perjured her.

Synonyms

• forswear, manswear

Related terms

• perjury

Translations

knowingly make a false statement of witness

• Abkhaz: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: лъжесвидетелствам (lǎžesvidetelstvam)
• Catalan: perjurar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 作伪证

• Czech: křivopřísežnictví n
• Danish: mened
• Dutch: meineed plegen
• Finnish: vannoa väärä vala
• French: parjurer (fr)
• Hungarian: hamisan tanúzik
• Latin: periūrō, peierō
• Old English: forswerian
• Polish: krzywoprzysięstwo (pl) n
• Russian: лжесвидетельствовать (ru) (lžesvidetelʹstvovatʹ)
• Slovak: krivoprísažníctvo n
• Spanish: perjurar (es)
• Swedish: begå mened (sv)

Noun

perjure (plural perjures)

1. (obsolete) A perjured person.
   • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

     He comes in like a perjure, wearing papers

Latin

Adjective

perjūre

1. vocative masculine singular of perjūrus

Spanish

Verb

perjure

1. inflection of perjurar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative