To tell a lie under oath in court or another legal setting, which is a serious crime punishable by law.
From Old French 'parjurer,' from Latin 'perjurare' (to swear falsely). The prefix 'per-' intensifies the meaning, and 'jurare' means 'to swear.'
Perjury is the legal system's Achilles heel—it's notoriously hard to prosecute despite being a felony because it's just 'your word against theirs,' which is why famous cases of perjury, like Martha Stewart's, create such dramatic legal upheaval.
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