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An oath is either a promise or a statement of fact calling upon something or someone that the oath maker
considers sacred, usually a god, as a witness to
the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. To swear is to take an oath.
A person taking an oath indicates this in a number of ways. The most usual is the explicit "I swear," but any statement or
promise that includes "with N as my witness" or "so help me N," with N being something or someone the oath-taker holds sacred, is
an oath. Many people take an oath by holding in their hand or placing over their head a book of scripture or a sacred object, thus indicating the sacred witness through their action. However, the chief purpose
of such an act is for ceremony or solemnity, and the act does not of itself make an oath.
There is confusion between oaths and other statements or promises. The current Olympic Oath, for instance, is really a pledge and not properly an
oath since there is only a "promise" and no appeal to a sacred witness. Oaths are also confused with vows, but really a vow is a special kind of oath.
In law, oaths are made by a witness to a
court of law before giving testimony and
usually by a newly appointed government officer to the people of a state before taking office. In both of those
cases, though, an affirmation can be usually substituted. A written
statement, if the author swears the statement is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, is called an affidavit. Breaking an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth
is perjury.
Other famous oaths include:
See also:
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