perjury
noun
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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
Ashleigh Fields, The Hill, 10 Jan. 2025
Griffith did give reporters a recent Miami appeals court decision concerning police misconduct, as well as a memo written by Fernandez Rundle’s staff outlining the office’s decision not to file charges against Pino for perjury, as the Public Defender’s Office had sought.
—Miami Herald Editors, Miami Herald, 2 Jan. 2025
Republicans have condemned Cheney for alleged witness tampering and encouraging a witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, to commit perjury.
—Peter Cordi, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 28 Dec. 2024
On the day after Steinberg withdrew, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office added the charges of solicitation to commit murder and solicitation to commit perjury to Craig’s case for allegedly asking two different people, including his daughter, to cover up evidence after his arrest.
—Lauren Penington, The Denver Post, 16 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Perjury.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perjury. Accessed 31 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
perjury
noun
Legal Definition
perjury
noun
Anglo-French perjurie, parjurie, from Latin perjurium, from perjurus deliberately giving false testimony, from per- detrimental to + jur-, jus law
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