scienter

American  

[sahy-en-ter] / saɪˈɛn tər /

noun

Law.

1. a mental state in which one has knowledge that one’s action, statement, etc., is wrong, deceptive, or illegal: often used as a standard of guilt.

   The court found that the company had the requisite scienter for securities fraud.

---

adverb

Law.

1. knowingly or deliberately.

   His wife’s statements were made scienter.

scienter British  

/ saɪˈɛntə /

adverb

1. law knowingly; wilfully

---

Etymology

Origin of scienter

First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin scienter “knowingly, consciously, skillfully, expertly,” from scient- (stem of sciēns ); see origin at science

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scienter

He said it is are that class action plaintiffs get summary judgment on falsity and scienter before going to a jury trial, scheduled in January.

From Reuters ● May 11, 2022

Realistically, though, legislators typically will not excuse defendants who have sufficiently bad scienter.

From Forbes ● Apr. 10, 2013

To be sure, all the judicial rulings in the area of collective scienter involve private securities litigation.

From BusinessWeek ● Feb. 10, 2011

In legal circles, this theory sometimes is called collective scienter.

From BusinessWeek ● Feb. 10, 2011

The other part—that he set the dog on him—lacks the allegation that the dog was vicious and that Appleboy knew it; in other words an allegation of scienter.

From Tutt and Mr. Tutt by Arthur Cheney Train