The New York booklet gives a short but important definition: “swear” includes every mode authorized by law for administering an oath. That means the law focuses less on one ritual phrase than on whether the form used is legally sufficient to impress the obligation on the person taking it.
This dovetails with the booklet’s longer discussion of oath practice and with CPLR §2309(b), which requires a form calculated to awaken the conscience and impress the mind of the person taking it in accordance with that person’s religious or ethical beliefs. In other words, New York does not reduce a valid oath to one magic script.
Why it matters: “Swear” is the verb; “oath” is the act. The two are inseparable in practice, but not identical as glossary terms.
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