suborn

verb

Etymology: PIE word *upó Borrowed from Anglo-Norman suburner, subhorner, and Middle French suborner, subourner (“to induce (someone) to commit a crime (specifically perjury) or wrongdoing”) (modern French suborner (“to suborn; to bribe”)), and from its etymon Latin subōrnāre, the present active infinitive of subōrnō (“to incite, instigate, suborn; to instruct one for a secret purpose; to adorn, dress; to equip, furnish, provide; to make one appear as (something)”), from sub- (prefix meaning ‘under’) + ōrnō (“to equip, furnish, provide; to adorn, decorate, ornament”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- (“to put together, fit; to fix; to slot”)). Cognates * Catalan subornar * Italian subornare * Old Occitan subornar, sobornar * Portuguese subornar * Spanish subornar (obsolete), sobornar

1. To induce (someone) to commit an unlawful or malicious act, especially in a corrupt manner.

   “Till thou to ſpit the venome of thy ſpite, / Subornedſt Cupid how he ſoone might ſlay me, / Abandoning his bowe and arrowes quite, / You laid his priuie complot to betray me; […]”

   “[H]ee ſuborneth one named Saulus and the ſouldiers of the Ievves to follovv the Gothes hard at the heeles, vvho killing ſome thouſands of them, oportunitie beeing offered, might by that meanes exaſperat at the mindes of the people and mooue them to breake the league.”

2. To induce (someone) to commit an unlawful or malicious act, especially in a corrupt manner.

   “[Y]ou shall finde their tongues chayned to another mans trencher, and as it were, Knights of the Post, suborned to say, sweare and stare the uttermost they can, as those that passe not what they say, nor with what face they say it, so they say no truth.”

   “By heauen (fond vvretch) yͧ knovvſt not vvhat thou ſpeak'ſt, / Or elſe thou art ſuborn'd againſt his honor / In hatefull practiſe: […]”

3. To achieve (some result; specifically, perjury) in a corrupt manner.

   “[U]pon ſingle Perjuries ſuborned by themſelves they condemned Men unheard, and ſold their Eſtates vvithout ſuffering them to ſpeak for themſelves— […]”

   “[F]or my part, I vvould as ſoon ſuborn an Evidence at an Aſſize, as a Vote at an Election.”

4. To procure or provide (something) secretly and often in a dishonest manner.

   “In a golden bowl / She then suborn'd a potion, in her soul / Deform'd things thinking; for amidst the wine / She mix'd her man-transforming medicine; […]”

   “Firm we ſubſiſt, yet poſſible to ſwerve, / Since Reaſon not impoſſibly may meet / Some ſpecious object by the Foe ſubornd, […]”

5. To make use of (something), especially for corrupt or dishonest reasons.

   “Nor is he onely content to ſuborne Divine Juſtice in his cenſure of vvhat is paſt, but he aſſumes the perſon of Chriſt himſelf to prognoſticate over us vvhat he vviſhes vvould come.”

6. To aid, assist, or support (something).

   “And fell much wood, that all night we may keep / Plenty of fires, even till the light bring forth the lovely morn; / And let their brightness glaze the skies, that night may not suborn / The Greeks' escape, […]”

7. To furnish or provide (something).

   “And ſurely if the purpoſe be in good earneſt not to vvrite at leaſure that vvhich mẽ [men] may read at leaſure, but really to inſtruct and ſuborne Action and actiue life, theſe Georgickes of the mind concerning the huſbãdry & tillage thereof, are no leſſe vvorthy thẽ the heroical deſcriptiõs of vertue, duty, & felicity vvherfore the maine & primitiue diuiſion of Morall knovvledge ſeemeth to be into the Exemplar or Platforme of Good, and the Regiment or Culture of the mind; […]”

8. To substitute (a thing) for something else, especially secretly and often in a dishonest manner.

   “I wiſh unto thee all ſuperabundant increaſe of the ſingular gifts of abſurditie and vaine glory: […] in ſupplanting and ſetting aſide the true children of the Engliſh, and ſuborning inkehorne changlings in their ſteade; […]”