bribery

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English briberie,^[2] formed partly from English bribe + -ery and partly from briber with the suffix -y.^[3] Etymonline, Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com derive it from Old French briberie,^[4][5][6] which meant begging;^[5][7] the OED notes that the French word is recorded only once, before 1485.^[3] The French noun comes from briber (“to beg”), also brimber,^[5][7] of unknown origin.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Theft, robbery, swindling: before 1387, in Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon, which joins robberye and bryberie.^[3][2][4]

Semantic evolution

The English word took the bad sense of the French family from the start: theft and pilfering in Middle English,^[2][4] and then extortion, taking something by abuse of power or trust (1523–1589).^[3][7] From 1538 it meant a powerful person's, especially a judge's or official's, demanding or accepting money for a favour;^[3][4] from 1560 it meant the giving or offering of such an inducement, the sense that survives.^[3][4][7] Johnson (1755) still defined it from the taker's side, as "the crime of taking rewards for bad practices".^[8] The change follows that of bribe, which moved from something stolen to a corrupting gift.^[4]

Timeline

• before 1387 – theft, robbery (obsolete by 1588).^[3][2]
• 1523 – extortion (obsolete by 1589).^[3]
• 1538 – the taking of money by an official in return for a favour.^[3][4]
• 1560 – the giving or offering of a bribe.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The giving, offering or taking of a bribe: The councillor was convicted of bribery.^[9][5][3]
2. (obsolete, 1387–1588) Theft or robbery; also extortion.^[3][5][2]

Related words

• bribe
• briber

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins