Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift given that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in charge of a public or legal duty. The bribe is the gift bestowed to influence the recipient's conduct. It may be any money, good, right in action, property, preferment, privilege, emolument, object of value, advantage, or merely a promise or undertaking to induce or influence the action, vote, or influence of a person in an official or public capacity.

The word corrupt (Middle English, from Latin corruptus, past participle of corrumpere, to destroy : com-, intensive pref. and rumpere, to break) when used as an adjective literally means \"utterly broken\". In modern English usage the words corruption and corrupt have many meanings, including:

* Political corruption, the abuse of public power, office, or resources by government officials or employees for personal gain, e.g. by extortion, soliciting or offering bribes
* Judicial corruption, a systemic corruption of judicial systems not only denies citizens their basic human rights, but hinders economic development and sometimes pushes aggrieved populations to violence
* Police corruption, a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, other personal gain, and/or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest
* Corporate corruption, corporate criminality and the abuse of power by corporation officials, either internally or externally
* Bribery in politics, business, or sport
* Rule of law, governmental corruption of judiciary, includes governmental spending on the courts, which is completely financially controlled by the executive in many transitional and developing countries