treason

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtɹiː.zən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English treison, borrowed from Anglo-Norman treisoun (also tresun),^[2][3][4] matching Old French traïson (modern French trahison),^[3][2] from Latin trāditiō (“a handing over, surrender”),^[4][5][6] a noun of action from trādō (“to hand over, betray”),^[5][2][7] from trāns (“across”) and dō (“to give”),^[5][6] The Old French form was influenced by the verb traïr (“to betray”).^[3][5] It is a doublet of tradition, which came straight from Latin.^[3][8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Betrayal of trust, treachery: about 1225 in the Ancrene Riwle,^[2] probably before 1200 in Barnhart.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Latin trādere meant to hand over, and so also to hand over treacherously, betray;^[8][7] tradition kept the first idea and treason the second.^[8][7] The legal sense, a subject's violation of allegiance to the sovereign or the state, is from 1303,^[2][6] and high treason is from about 1400.^[5] English law defined it in the Statute of Treasons of 1350–51,^[9] and in early English law it also covered a vassal's betrayal of his lord.^[10] The spelling treason appears from the mid-to-late 15th century.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1225 – betrayal, treachery.^[2]
• 1303 – violation of allegiance to the sovereign or state.^[2]
• c. 1330 – the verb, to betray (rare).^[2]
• 1350–51 – the Statute of Treasons.^[9]
• 14th century – treasonable.^[6]
• c. 1400 – high treason.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The crime of betraying one's country, especially by trying to overthrow its government or by helping its enemies.
2. A betrayal of trust or allegiance; treachery.

Word family

• treasonable
• treasonous
• high treason
• petit treason
• petty treason

Related words

• traitor
• traitorous
• tradition
• betray
• treachery

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster