| Front | suborn \suh-BORN\ |
|---|---|
| Back | verb 1. To induce secretly to do an unlawful thing 2. To induce to commit perjury; also: to obtain (perjured testimony) from a witness. [The Latin word that gave us "suborn" in the early part of the 16th century is "subornare," which translates literally as "to secretly furnish or equip." The "sub-" that brings the "secretly" meaning to "subornare" more commonly means "under" or "below," but it has its stealthy denotation in the etymologies of several other English words, including "surreptitious" (from "sub-" and "rapere," meaning "to seize") and the verb "suspect" (from "sub-" or "sus-" and "specere," meaning "to look at"). The "ornare" of "subornare" is also at work in the words "ornate," "adorn," and "ornament."] "Would a senior lawyer, proven in a court of law to attempt to suborn a witness, be allowed to continue to practice law?" - TSR Subramanian; It's Imperative to Free CBI and ED from Government Control; The New Indian Express (Chennai, India); Mar 3, 2013. "Regulators were suborned by lobbyists and ministers." - Simon Jenkins; Ignore Their Howls of Protest; The Guardian (London, UK); Mar 5, 2013. |
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