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How does one say "bribe" (noun or verb) in Latin?

In Italian, it is tangente, from the Latin tangentem ("touched").

The Lexicon Recentis Latinitatis says tangente () means largitio quæstuosa ().

Geremia
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    Did you check any of the online Latin dictionaries for largitio or related words? – Joonas Ilmavirta Feb 14 '24 at 08:04
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    Since you tagged your question ecclesiastical, Mt 28:12-13 comes to mind, but the bribery is implied: Et congregati cum senioribus, consilio accepto, pecuniam copiosam dederunt militibus dicentes: “ Dicite: “Discipuli eius nocte venerunt et furati sunt eum, nobis dormientibus" – Rafael Feb 14 '24 at 14:50

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Since you tagged this question as "ecclesiastical," the first option that comes to mind is munus, muneris. Munus is a generic word for a "gift" (or even a "function" or "office"), but it can be used for a "bribe," as the linked L&S entry mentions in meaning II.C.

For this "bribery" meaning in ecclesiastical Latin, see Psalm 25 [26]:10, which used to be recited every time the priest performed the ablutions in the Mass:

in quorum manibus iniquitates sunt; dextera eorum repleta est muneribus.

The Douay-Rheims translation has:

In whose hands are iniquities: their right hand is filled with gifts.

In context, however, it is clear that the word means "bribes." Here, for example, is the RSV translation:

men in whose hands are evil devices,
and whose right hands are full of bribes.

brianpck
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In a verbal sense, Classical Latin would probably have used suborno (“I induce/incite/suborn”). For a nominal sense, you could use the deverbal derivation with “-io”, subornatio, (“a subornation”, “an inducement”).

EDIT: Realize that both Latin suborno and English suborn have a somewhat broader semantic field than does English bribe, since “bribe” strongly suggests a particularly monetary inducement, while “suborno”/“suborn” could mean any type of inducement (including monetary) to act in a desired way. In this way, when Luca Brasi held a gun to the bandleader’s head, and Don Vito Corleone assured him that “either your brains or your signature are going be on this contract”, the musician was successfully suborned, but certainly not “bribed” as most people today would think of that.

Zwing
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