Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Oath

Oath (ōth), n.; pl. Oaths (ōt͟hz). [OE. othe, oth, ath, AS. āð; akin to D. eed, OS. ēð, G. eid, Icel. eiðr, Sw. ed, Dan. eed, Goth. aiþs; cf. OIr. oeth.] 1. A solemn affirmation or declaration, made with a reverent appeal to God for the truth of what is affirmed. "I have an oath in heaven" Shak.

An oath of secrecy for the concealing of those [inventions] which we think fit to keep secret. Bacon.

2. A solemn affirmation, connected with a sacred object, or one regarded as sacred, as the temple, the altar, the blood of Abel, the Bible, the Koran, etc.

3. (Law) An appeal (in verification of a statement made) to a superior sanction, in such a form as exposes the party making the appeal to an indictment for perjury if the statement be false.

4. A careless and blasphemous use of the name of the divine Being, or anything divine or sacred, by way of appeal or as a profane exclamation or ejaculation; an expression of profane swearing. "A terrible oath" Shak.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.