Standard Lemma guide

oath

noun · verb · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈəʊθ/
  • General-American: /ˈoʊθ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -əʊθ
  • CMU ARPABET: OW1 TH Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A solemn pledge or promise that invokes a deity, a ruler, or another entity (not necessarily present) to attest the truth of a statement or sincerity of one's desire to fulfill a contract or promise.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • take an oath
  • swear an oath
  • break one's oath

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A statement or promise which is strengthened (affirmed) by such a pledge.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • After taking the oath of office, she became the country's forty-third premier.
  • The generals swore an oath of loyalty to the country.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A light, irreverent or insulting appeal to a deity or other entity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A curse, a curse word.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

To pledge.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

a commitment to tell the truth (especially in a court of law); to lie under oath is to become subject to prosecution for perjury

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: swearing

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: commitment, dedication

7

noun

Meaning 7

profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • expletives were deleted

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: curse, curse word, expletive, swearing, swearword, cuss

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: profanity

8

noun

Meaning 8

a solemn promise, usually invoking a divine witness, regarding your future acts or behavior

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • they took an oath of allegiance

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: promise

Narrower terms: bayat, Hippocratic oath

History

Etymology

From Middle English ooth, oth, ath, from Old English āþ (“oath”), from Proto-West Germanic *aiþ (“oath”), from Proto-Germanic *aiþaz (“oath”). Cognate with Scots aith, athe (“oath”), North Frisian ith, iss (“oath”), Saterland Frisian Eed (“oath”), West Frisian eed (“oath”), Dutch eed (“oath”), German Eid (“oath”), Swedish ed (“oath”), Icelandic eið (“oath”), Latin ūtor (“make use of, employ, avail”, verb), Old Irish óeth (“oath”).

Across languages

Translations

252 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afar: xiiba — solemn pledge
  • Afrikaans: eed — solemn pledge
  • Aklanon: sumpa' — solemn pledge
  • Albanian: be — solemn pledge
  • Albanian: betim — solemn pledge
  • Albanian: besë — solemn pledge
  • Southern Altai: черт (čert) — solemn pledge
  • Southern Altai: антык (antïk) — solemn pledge
  • Arabic: قَسَم (qasam) — solemn pledge
  • Arabic: حَلْف (ḥalf) — solemn pledge
  • Arabic: حِلْف (ḥilf) — solemn pledge
  • Arabic: يَمِين (yamīn) — solemn pledge
  • Armenian: երդում (erdum) — solemn pledge
  • Aromanian: giurãmintu — solemn pledge
  • Aromanian: giurat — solemn pledge
  • Asturian: xuramentu — solemn pledge
  • Azerbaijani: and — solemn pledge
  • Bashkir: ант (ant) — solemn pledge
  • Basque: zin — solemn pledge
  • Belarusian: прыся́га (prysjáha) — solemn pledge
  • Belarusian: кляцьба́ (kljacʹbá) — solemn pledge
  • Bengali: শপথ (śopoth) — solemn pledge
  • Bengali: কসম (kośom) — solemn pledge
  • Bhojpuri: कसम (kasam) — solemn pledge
  • Bulgarian: кле́тва (klétva) — solemn pledge
  • Burmese: သစ္စာ (sacca) — solemn pledge
  • Catalan: jurament — solemn pledge
  • Cebuano: sumpa — solemn pledge
  • Chinese Cantonese: 宣言 (syun1 jin4) — solemn pledge
  • Chinese Cantonese: 宣誓 (syun1 sai6) — solemn pledge
  • Chinese: 宣誓 (zh-min-nan) — solemn pledge
  • Chinese Mandarin: 誓詞 /誓词 (shìcí) — solemn pledge
  • Chinese Mandarin: 宣誓 (xuānshì) — solemn pledge
  • Czech: přísaha — solemn pledge
  • Danish: ed — solemn pledge
  • Dutch: eed — solemn pledge
  • Dutch: bezwering — solemn pledge
  • Esperanto: ĵuro — solemn pledge
  • Estonian: tõotus — solemn pledge
  • Estonian: vanne — solemn pledge
  • Faroese: eiður — solemn pledge
  • Finnish: vala — solemn pledge
  • French: serment — solemn pledge
  • Friulian: zur — solemn pledge
  • Friulian: ğur — solemn pledge
  • Friulian: zurament — solemn pledge
  • Friulian: ğurament — solemn pledge
  • Galician: xuramento — solemn pledge
  • Galician: xura — solemn pledge
  • Galician: promesa — solemn pledge
  • Georgian: ფიცი (pici) — solemn pledge
  • German: Eid — solemn pledge
  • German: Schwur — solemn pledge
  • Gothic: 𐌰𐌹𐌸𐍃 (aiþs) — solemn pledge
  • Greek: όρκος (órkos) — solemn pledge
  • Ancient Greek: ὅρκος (hórkos) — solemn pledge
  • Ancient Greek: ὅρκιον (hórkion) — solemn pledge
  • Gujarati: સોગન (sogan) — solemn pledge
  • Gujarati: સોગંદ (sogand) — solemn pledge
  • Gujarati: શપથ (śapath) — solemn pledge
  • Gujarati: કસમ (kasam) — solemn pledge
  • Gujarati: સમ (sam) — solemn pledge
  • Hebrew: שבועה \ שְׁבוּעָה (shvuá) — solemn pledge
  • Hindi: शपथ (śapath) — solemn pledge
  • Hindi: सौगंद (saugand) — solemn pledge
  • Hindi: क़सम (qasam) — solemn pledge
  • Hungarian: eskü — solemn pledge
  • Hungarian: fogadalom — solemn pledge
  • Icelandic: eiður — solemn pledge
  • Indonesian: sumpah — solemn pledge
  • Irish: mionn — solemn pledge
  • Irish: móid — solemn pledge
  • Italian: giuramento — solemn pledge
  • Japanese: 誓い (chikai) — solemn pledge
  • Japanese: 誓約 (seiyaku) — solemn pledge
  • Japanese: 宣誓 (sensei) — solemn pledge
  • Kazakh: ант (ant) — solemn pledge
  • Kazakh: серт (sert) — solemn pledge
  • Khmer: សបថ (saʼpaʼthaʼ) — solemn pledge
  • Khmer: ប្រណិធាន (prɑnethiən) — solemn pledge
  • Korean: 맹세 (maengse) — solemn pledge
  • Korean: 선서 (seonseo) — solemn pledge
  • Korean: 서약 (seoyak) — solemn pledge
  • Central Kurdish: سوێن (swên) — solemn pledge
  • Northern Kurdish: sond — solemn pledge
  • Northern Kurdish: êqîn — solemn pledge
  • Northern Kurdish: qesem — solemn pledge
  • Northern Kurdish: soz — solemn pledge
  • Kyrgyz: ант (ant) — solemn pledge
  • Ladin: jurament — solemn pledge
  • Lao: ຄໍາສາບານ (kham sā bān) — solemn pledge
  • Latgalian: pīzvārs — solemn pledge
  • Latin: iūrāmentum — solemn pledge
  • Latin: sacramentum — solemn pledge
  • Latin: fides — solemn pledge
  • Latvian: zvērests — solemn pledge
  • Lithuanian: priesaika — solemn pledge
  • Luxembourgish: Eed — solemn pledge
  • Macedonian: заклетва (zakletva) — solemn pledge
  • Malay: sumpah — solemn pledge
  • Māori: kupu taurangi — solemn pledge
  • Maranao: sapa' — solemn pledge
  • Mongolian: тангараг (tangarag) — solemn pledge
  • Mongolian: ᠲᠠᠩᠭᠠᠷᠢᠭ (tangɣariɣ) — solemn pledge
  • Norwegian Bokmål: ed — solemn pledge
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: eid — solemn pledge
  • Occitan: jura — solemn pledge
  • Occitan: jurament — solemn pledge
  • Church Slavic: присѧга (prisęga) — solemn pledge
  • Old East Slavic: клꙗтва (kljatva) — solemn pledge
  • Old English: āþ — solemn pledge
  • Old Norse: eiðr — solemn pledge
  • Ossetian: ард (ard) — solemn pledge
  • Pali: sapatha — solemn pledge
  • Pashto: سوګند (sawgand) — solemn pledge
  • Pashto: حلف (half) — solemn pledge
  • Iranian Persian: سُوگَنْد (sowgand) — solemn pledge
  • Iranian Persian: قَسَم (ġasam) — solemn pledge
  • Iranian Persian: حَلْف (half) — solemn pledge
  • Plautdietsch: Eid — solemn pledge
  • Polish: przysięga — solemn pledge
  • Portuguese: juramento — solemn pledge
  • Portuguese: jura — solemn pledge
  • Portuguese: promessa — solemn pledge
  • Punjabi: ਸਹੁੰ (sahũ) — solemn pledge
  • Punjabi: ਕਸਮ (kasam) — solemn pledge
  • Punjabi: سَون٘ہہ (sauṉh) — solemn pledge
  • Punjabi: قَسَم (qasam) — solemn pledge
  • Romanian: jurământ — solemn pledge
  • Romanian: legământ — solemn pledge
  • Romansh: engirament — solemn pledge
  • Romansh: güramaint — solemn pledge
  • Romansh: angiramaint — solemn pledge
  • Romansh: saramaint — solemn pledge
  • Russian: прися́га (prisjága) — solemn pledge
  • Russian: кля́тва (kljátva) — solemn pledge
  • Saho: dhiiwa — solemn pledge
  • Sanskrit: शपथ (śapatha) — solemn pledge
  • Sardinian: giura — solemn pledge
  • Serbo-Croatian: за́клетва — solemn pledge
  • Serbo-Croatian: при̏сега — solemn pledge
  • Serbo-Croatian: zákletva — solemn pledge
  • Serbo-Croatian: prȉsega — solemn pledge
  • Sicilian: giuramentu — solemn pledge
  • Slovak: prísaha — solemn pledge
  • Slovene: prisega — solemn pledge
  • Spanish: juramento — solemn pledge
  • Spanish: juramiento — solemn pledge
  • Swahili: yamini — solemn pledge
  • Swedish: ed — solemn pledge
  • Tagalog: panunumpa — solemn pledge
  • Tajik: савганд (savgand) — solemn pledge
  • Tajik: қасам (qasam) — solemn pledge
  • Tajik: ҳалф (half) — solemn pledge
  • Tarifit: tjaǧit — solemn pledge
  • Tatar: ант (ant) — solemn pledge
  • Telugu: ప్రమాణం (pramāṇaṁ) — solemn pledge
  • Thai: คําสาบาน (kam-sǎa-baan) — solemn pledge
  • Tibetan: མནའ (mna') — solemn pledge
  • Turkish: ant — solemn pledge
  • Turkish: kasem — solemn pledge
  • Turkish: yemin — solemn pledge
  • Ottoman Turkish: آند (and) — solemn pledge
  • Ottoman Turkish: سوگند (sevgend) — solemn pledge
  • Turkmen: kasam — solemn pledge
  • Ugaritic: 𐎐𐎄𐎗 (ndr) — solemn pledge
  • Ukrainian: прися́га (prysjáha) — solemn pledge
  • Ukrainian: кля́тва (kljátva) — solemn pledge
  • Ukrainian: клятьба́ (kljatʹbá) — solemn pledge
  • Urdu: قَسَم (qasam) — solemn pledge
  • Urdu: سَوگَنْد (saugand) — solemn pledge
  • Urdu: حَلْف (half) — solemn pledge
  • Urdu: شَپَتھ (śapath) — solemn pledge
  • Uyghur: قەسەم (qesem) — solemn pledge
  • Uzbek: qasam — solemn pledge
  • Uzbek: ont — solemn pledge
  • Venetan: giuramento — solemn pledge
  • Vietnamese: lời tuyên thệ — solemn pledge
  • Vietnamese: lời thề — solemn pledge
  • Welsh: llw — solemn pledge
  • Yiddish: שבֿועה (shvue) — solemn pledge
  • Armenian: երդում (erdum) — affirmed statement
  • Chinese Mandarin: 誓言 (shìyán) — affirmed statement
  • Czech: přísaha — affirmed statement
  • Czech: slib — affirmed statement
  • Danish: ed — affirmed statement
  • Danish: løfte — affirmed statement
  • Dutch: eed — affirmed statement
  • Finnish: lupaus — affirmed statement
  • German: Eid — affirmed statement
  • Greek: όρκος (órkos) — affirmed statement
  • Hungarian: eskü — affirmed statement
  • Italian: giuramento — affirmed statement
  • Japanese: 宣誓 (sensei) — affirmed statement
  • Northern Kurdish: soz — affirmed statement
  • Northern Kurdish: ehd — affirmed statement
  • Macedonian: заклетва (zakletva) — affirmed statement
  • Māori: oatitanga — affirmed statement
  • Norwegian Bokmål: ed — affirmed statement
  • Polish: klątwa — affirmed statement
  • Portuguese: juramento — affirmed statement
  • Punjabi: ਹਲਫ਼ (halaf) — affirmed statement
  • Russian: кля́тва (kljátva) — affirmed statement
  • Serbo-Croatian: за́клетва — affirmed statement
  • Serbo-Croatian: при̏сега — affirmed statement
  • Serbo-Croatian: zákletva — affirmed statement
  • Serbo-Croatian: prȉsega — affirmed statement
  • Slovak: prísaha — affirmed statement
  • Slovene: prisega — affirmed statement
  • Swahili: kiapo — affirmed statement
  • Swedish: ed — affirmed statement
  • Telugu: ప్రమాణం (pramāṇaṁ) — affirmed statement
  • Tibetan: དམ་བཅའ (dam bca') — affirmed statement
  • Turkish: söz — affirmed statement
  • Armenian: անեծք (aneckʻ) — profanity
  • Armenian: նզովք (nzovkʻ) — profanity
  • Armenian: հայհոյանք (hayhoyankʻ) — profanity
  • Chinese Mandarin: 罵人話 /骂人话 (màrénhuà) — profanity
  • Chinese Mandarin: 罵人 /骂人 (màrén) — profanity
  • Faroese: eiður — profanity
  • Faroese: illbøn — profanity
  • Finnish: kirosana — profanity
  • French: juron — profanity
  • German: Fluch — profanity
  • Hungarian: káromkodás — profanity
  • Hungarian: szitkozódás — profanity
  • Hungarian: szitok — profanity
  • Italian: bestemmia — profanity
  • Japanese: わいせつ (waisetsu) — profanity
  • Northern Kurdish: dijûn — profanity
  • Northern Kurdish: xeber — profanity
  • Northern Kurdish: sixêf — profanity
  • Macedonian: пцост (pcost) — profanity
  • Macedonian: пцовка (pcovka) — profanity
  • Portuguese: palavrão — profanity
  • Russian: прокля́тие (prokljátije) — profanity
  • Russian: руга́тельство (rugátelʹstvo) — profanity
  • Russian: мат (mat) — profanity
  • Serbo-Croatian: псо̑вка — profanity
  • Serbo-Croatian: psȏvka — profanity
  • Swedish: ed — profanity
  • Swedish: svordom — profanity
  • Turkish: bela — profanity
  • French: jurer — to pledge
  • Georgian: დაფიცება (dapiceba) — to pledge
  • Georgian: შეფიცვა (šepicva) — to pledge
  • Georgian: ფიცის დადება (picis dadeba) — to pledge
  • Middle High German: eiden — to pledge
  • Italian: giurare — to pledge
  • Northern Kurdish: sond xwarin — to pledge
  • Khiamniungan Naga: thòlòuh — to pledge
  • Portuguese: jurar — to pledge