treason

English

Etymology

From Middle English tresoun, treison, from Anglo-Norman treson, from Old French traïson (“treason”), from Latin trāditiōnem, accusative of trāditiō (“a giving up, handing over, surrender, delivery, tradition”), from trādō (“give up, hand over, deliver over, betray”, verb), from trāns- (“over, across”) +‎ dō (“give”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈtɹiː.zən/
  • Rhymes: -iːzən

Noun

treason (countable and uncountable, plural treasons)

  1. The crime of betraying one’s own country.
    • 1613, John Harington, “Book iv, Epigram 5”, in Alcilia:
      Treason doth never prosper. What's the reason? Why, if it doth, then none dare call it treason.
  2. (US, law) Waging war against the United States or providing aid and comfort to one of its enemies.
  3. An act of treachery, betrayal of trust or confidence

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

See also

References

  • treason at OneLook Dictionary Search
  • treason in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • treason in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Anagrams

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