English Explanatory Dictionary

treason

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The crime of betraying one’s own country.
  2. An act of treachery, betrayal of trust or confidence.

Pronunciation

/ˈtɹiː.zən/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-treason.wav

Word forms

treason treasons

Etymology

From Middle English tresoun, treison, from Anglo-Norman treson, from Old French traïson (“treason”), from trair, or from Latin 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.

Synonyms

perfidiousness perfidy treacherousness treachery betrayal breach of promise breach of trust double-dealing Judas kiss prodition Punic faith stab in the back swike tergiversation traitory treason

Related words

traitor traitorlike traitorly traitorous traitorously traitorousness sedition

Derived words

constructive treason high treason petit treason petty treason treasonable treasonableness treasonably treasonist treasonistic treasonistically treasonous treasonously treasonousness
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on T Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary