Bribery
Etymology
From Old French "bribe", which meant a piece of bread given to a beggar. The word darkened over time — through senses of pilfering and extortion — until "bribe" came to mean the payment that buys a corrupt favor, a long fall from a scrap of charity.
noun · /BRY-buh-ree/
The offering or taking of something of value to corrupt the judgment of a person in a position of trust.
What it names
A specific mechanism of corruption — payment for a betrayal of duty — distinct from ordinary gifts or fees.
Example
The inspector’s sudden approval, hours after the envelope changed hands, looked like bribery to everyone but the court.
Related idea
Bribery is a discrete transaction that buys a specific act; corruption is the broader decay of an institution’s integrity, of which repeated bribery is one common cause.