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

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

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

From BusinessWeek • Feb. 10, 2011

By the logic of the appeals court’s 2008 decision, the SEC couldn’t have established that GE acted with scienter unless it proved one of its employees did, too.

From BusinessWeek • Feb. 10, 2011

Before consecration he had been compelled to profess publicly that he had had nothing to do with the murder of Archbishop Becket: "Mortem S. Thom� Archiepiscopi neque verbo neque facto neque scripto scienter procuravit."

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ely A History and Description of the Building with a Short Account of the Monastery and of the See by Sweeting, W. D. (Walter Debenham)