Etymologically
Log in

betray

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:16. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /bɪˈtɹeɪ/, /bəˈtɹeɪ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English bitraien,[2][3][4][5] formed from Middle English bi- + traien (“to betray”),[3][5][6][7] the second part being the now obsolete verb traien, which is from Old French traïr (“to betray, deceive”), modern trahir,[3][4][8][9] from Latin trādō (“to hand over, deliver up”).[3][4][10] The Latin verb is formed from trāns (“across”) and dō (“to give”).[10][4][5] The Anglo-Norman verb, recorded from the early 12th century, already meant to betray, to hand over treacherously, to deceive and to lead astray.[11] Klein calls the English verb a hybrid,[9] and Ayto an English formation based on the French verb.[10] Skeat and Weekley thought the prefix was suggested by bewray;[12][13] Middle English also had bitraishen, from the present-participle stem of the French verb.[2][4][13] The same Latin verb gave tradition, and through French treason and traitor.[10][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

To mislead or deceive someone who trusts one: about 1250, in Laȝamon's Brut.[3] The sense "to give up to an enemy by treachery" follows about 1275, in The Passion of Our Lord,[3][2] and Barnhart dates bitrayen, to mislead, deceive or betray, to about 1280.[14][5] Etymonline gives "to prove false, violate by unfaithfulness" from the early 13th century.[4]

Semantic evolution

From the start the verb covered both handing someone over to enemies and deceiving a trusting person; being false to a trust or to the person who gives it is recorded from before 1300.[3][4] Chaucer used it eleven times, for both betraying and deceiving.[15] In the late 16th century it came to mean revealing something against one's will, such as one's identity or true character: Shakespeare has it so in Love's Labour's Lost (1598).[3][4][8] From 1697, in Dryden, it could mean simply to show or reveal something that no one was trying to hide.[3][4] From 1734, in Pope, it also meant to disclose a secret in breach of faith.[3][4] Johnson (1755) gave as his first sense to hand someone over to enemies by treachery, quoting the Bible.[16] The sense "to seduce a woman with false promises" is recorded from 1766, in Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield.[3] The noun betrayal was formed in the 19th century and is first recorded in 1816, in Southey.[5][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1250 – to mislead, deceive.[3]
  • c. 1275 – to give up to an enemy by treachery.[3][2]
  • before 1300 – to be false to a trust or to a person who trusts one.[3]
  • 1594 – to cheat or disappoint (obsolete by 1704).[3]
  • 1598 – to reveal unintentionally the identity or nature of someone or something.[3]
  • 1600 – noun betray, betrayal (obsolete).[3]
  • 1697 – to show, give signs of something not kept secret.[3]
  • 1734 – to disclose a secret in breach of faith.[3]
  • 1766 – to seduce a woman with false promises.[3]
  • 1816 – the noun betrayal.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To hand over a person, group or country to an enemy by treachery; to be a traitor to: The spy betrayed his comrades to the secret police.[17][7][3]
  2. To be disloyal to a person, a trust or a promise: She felt that her closest friend had betrayed her confidence.[17][7][3]
  3. To tell a secret or a confidence that one should have kept.[17][3]
  4. To fail someone, or disappoint their hopes: Her nerves betrayed her at the last moment.[17][3]
  5. To reveal something without meaning to, or to show signs of it: His shaking hands betrayed his fear.[17][7][3]
  6. To mislead or lead astray; to deceive.[7][3]
  7. To seduce a woman and then abandon her.[7][3]

Word family

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  10. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  12. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  13. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  14. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  15. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  16. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  17. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins