Perjure

(pĕr/jŭr), v. t. [ĭmp. & p. p. PERJURED; p. pr. & vb. n. PERJURING.] [O. Fr. perjurer, par-jurer, N. Fr. perjurer, Pr., Sp., & Pg. perjurar, It. pergiurare, spergiurare, Lat. perjurare, perjerare, pejerare, from prefix per, through, over, and jurare, to swear.]

1Sense 1. To render guilty of perjury; to cause to swear before a court of justice to what one knows to be untrue, or does not know to be true; to forswear; — used reflexively; as, to perjure one's self.

2Sense 2. To make a false oath to; to deceive by oaths and protestations.

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

Synonyms—To PERJURE, FORSWEAR. These words have been interchanged to a great extent by our best writers. In modern usage, however, there is a tendency to separate them, unless it be in poetry. Forswear applies to all kinds of oaths. Perjure applies, in a legal sense (which is now becoming the general one), to oaths administered by a civil magistrate. A subject forswears himself when he breaks his oath of allegiance; a witness perjures himself when he swears to what he knows to be false.

I firmly vow Never to woo her more, but do forswear her As one unworthy all the former favors. Shak.

(pĕr'jūr), n. [Lat. perjurus, from the prefix per, through, beyond, and jus, juris, right, law, justice; O. Fr. perjur, N. Fr. perjure, Pr. perjur, Sp. & Pg. perjuro, It. pergiuro, spergiuro.] A perjured person. [Obs.] Shak.