Etymologically
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bribery

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈbɹaɪbəɹi/[1]

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]

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