suborn

American  

[suh-bawrn] / səˈbɔrn /

verb (used with object)

1. to bribe or induce (someone) unlawfully or secretly to perform some misdeed or to commit a crime

   The drug cartel suborned the local police department to turn a blind eye to their trafficking.

2. Law.

   1. to induce (a person, especially a witness) to give false testimony.

   2. to obtain (false testimony) from a witness.

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suborn British  

/ ˌsʌbɔːˈneɪʃən, səˈbɔːn, sʌˈbɔːnətɪv /

verb

1. to bribe, incite, or instigate (a person) to commit a wrongful act

2. criminal law to induce (a witness) to commit perjury

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Other Word Forms

• subornation
  noun
• subornative
  adjective
• suborner
  noun
• unsuborned
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of suborn

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin subornāre “to instigate secretly, prepare clandestinely,” originally, “to supply,” equivalent to sub-, preposition and prefix + ornāre “to equip,” from an assumed ordnāre, a derivative of the noun ordō (stem ordin- ) “line, row, rank, grade”; see origin at sub-, order

Explanation

One of the reasons Mafia bosses are so good at avoiding prison is that they know how to suborn witnesses and jurors — that is, to bribe people to lie. After all, it wouldn't be nice if an accident were to happen on the way to court, right? Technically speaking, suborn doesn't just mean induce someone to conveniently "forget" something in the witness stand, or otherwise get creative with their imagination. An inducement to any kind of crime is suborning, but by far the most common use is in the legal sense above. Or "witness tampering," as the cops call it.

Example Sentences

"Suborn evidence," muttered John Ayliffe to himself; for though ready to do any act that might advance his purpose, he did not like to hear it called by its right name.

From The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 2, May, 1851 by Various

Suborn, sub-orn′, v.t. to cause to commit a perjury: to procure indirectly.—ns.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

When they abandoned the guard, however, he admonished a Norwegian boy named Oscar Suborn to keep close watch there for us, and Thursday morning, Sept.

From The Story of Cole Younger, by Himself by Younger, Cole