What does adjurer mean?
Adjurer is a rare noun denoting a person who administers an oath or solemn affirmation. Its clearest use is in legal, governmental, ceremonial, or religious settings: an adjurer witnesses an oath, formally administers it, and reminds the person making it to speak truthfully. The word can also denote someone who solemnly urges, commands, or calls upon another person, a spirit, or a power. This broader sense sometimes appears in accounts of rituals, invocations, and supernatural commands. Adjurer is not usually chosen in casual speech because more specific expressions, such as “commissioner for oaths” or “oath administrator,” are clearer in legal contexts and “invoker” may better convey the broader sense. The term is nevertheless useful because it identifies the person performing the act rather than the act itself. Its connection with the Latin jurare, “to swear,” also links it etymologically to familiar words such as jury and juror.
nounA person who administers an oath or solemn affirmation, especially an official authorized to do so. More broadly, it can mean a person who solemnly urges, commands, or calls upon someone or something.
- A person who administers an oath or solemn affirmation.
- A person who solemnly urges, commands, or calls upon another person or a spirit.
"The adjurer solemnly warned the witness to tell the whole truth."
"The court appointed an adjurer to administer the oath to the witness."
"In the old ritual, the adjurer called upon the spirit to reveal what had happened."
The regular plural is “adjurers,” although the word itself is uncommon.
"The two adjurers administered the oaths separately."
Behind adjurer is the Latin jurare, meaning “to swear”—the same root that connects it to words such as jury and juror.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Words that share this root
How adjurer is actually used
The word is uncommon in ordinary modern English. Its first sense is especially associated with legal, governmental, ceremonial, or religious contexts, while the broader sense of a person who solemnly invokes or commands is formal and often literary.
Easily confused with adjurer
An adjurer is a person, whereas adjure is the verb meaning to administer an oath to, command solemnly, or call upon a spirit.