treason
English
Etymology
From Middle English tresoun, treison, borrowed from Anglo-Norman treson, from Old French traïson (“treason”), from trair, or 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”). Doublet of tradition.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtɹiː.zən/
- Rhymes: -iːzən
Noun
treason (countable and uncountable, plural treasons)
- 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.
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- An act of treachery, betrayal of trust or confidence.
Derived terms
- high treason
- petit treason/petty treason
- treasonable
- treasonableness
- treasonably
- treasonist
- treasonistic
- treasonistically
- treasonous
- treasonously
- treasonousness
Related terms
Translations
crime of betraying one’s country
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providing aid and comfort to the enemy
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- 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, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Middle English
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