bearing false witness
4
8.8
- noun
- Formal
:
falsedad de testimonio
- When he was asked about the events, he knew that bearing false witness would be wrong.
Examples
-
My Bible still includes the Commandment against bearing false witness.
Blog text (22) -
He would ask, "Do you know the scriptures? Do not lie, do not bear false witness."
Blog text (12) -
You bear false witness against me.
Blog text (19) -
I refused to bear false witness against him.
-
We should not bear false witness against our neighbors.
Academic text (2013) -
Because otherwise you are bearing false witness against a neighbor, and I'm certain you don't want to do that, right?
Blog text (25) -
Do you remember the commandment "thou shalt not bear false witness"?
-
The ninth commandment says: "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."
Academic text (1999) -
In a court of law, bearing false witness can lead to serious consequences for the accused.
-
The judge reminded the jury that bearing false witness undermines the integrity of the legal system.
Synonyms
123
8.2
Lying on purpose while under oath in court
14
8.9
Saying something false after promising to tell the truth in court
Antonyms
How Serious
- Formal
2
9.9
- Formal
4
8.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The words 'false' and 'witness' signal incorrect testimony, so a learner who knows those constituents can partly infer the expression refers to untrue testimony. However, 'bear' in the collocation 'bear witness' meaning 'to give/testify' is a less common sense of 'bear' and the phrase is legal/Biblical in register, so the precise sense 'knowingly making false statements under oath' is not fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
Bearing false witness comes from a line in the Bible: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.' Long ago the verb bear (seen as bearing) meant 'to carry' or 'give', so the phrase shows a clear picture of someone 'carrying' an untrue testimony as a witness in court or before others. That's why today bearing false witness means 'knowingly making false statements under oath' and is treated as a serious wrong.