treason Hear it!

treason Definition

trea·son (trē′zən)

noun

  1. Now Rare betrayal of trust or faith; treachery
  2. violation of the allegiance owed to one's sovereign or state; betrayal of one's country, specif., in the U.S. (as declared in the Constitution), consisting only in levying war against the U.S. or in giving aid and comfort to its enemies

Etymology: ME treison < OFr traïson < L traditio < pp. of tradere, to give or deliver over or up < trans-, trans- + dare, to give: see date

treason Synonyms

treason

n.

sedition, seditiousness, disloyalty, perfidy, treachery, seditionary act, seditious act, aid and comfort to the enemy, factious revolt; see also crime 2, dishonesty, deception 1, revolution 2.

treason implies an overt act in violation of the allegiance owed to one's state, specif. a levying war against it or giving aid or comfort to its enemies; sedition applies to anything regarded by a government as stirring up resistance or rebellion against it without being an overt or absolute act of treachery

treason Law Definition

n

An attempt to overthrow the government of the state or nation to which one owes allegiance, by making war against that government or by giving material support to the enemies of that government. In order to be convicted of treason, a person must confess in open court or there must be testimony to overt acts by two witnesses. See also sedition.
treason Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • commit: You are to be escorted... " " I did not commit treason, " Helm answered quietly.
  • consider: In that moment, Setsuna decided... She would commit the long considered treason.
  • speak: But those prophets or those who divine by dreams shall be put to death for having spoken treason against the Lord you God.. .
  • punish: She retreated to her porch, merely saying: " The King punishes severely any treason on the part of his subjects.
  • include: He also lived through Henry VIII's extension of the treason act in 1535 to include verbal treason.
  • constitute: Harboring a priest could incur the death penalty and merely being a priest constituted high treason.

Preposition: against

  • people: Did I not let my colleagues down by refusing to commit treason against the Nigerian people!
  • state: The leaders of the 1820 Radical Rising were quickly brought to trial and hanged for treason against the British State.

Adjective modifier

  • petty: A wife who killed her husband did not commit murder she committed the far worse crime of petty treason.
  • high: He was hanged for high treason at Rio de Janeiro.
  • such: Who could expect such treason from [ your ] breast, Such thunder from your voice?
  • committed: He laughs off the angry man, proclaiming: " Mr Blair is the one that's committed treason.
  • alleged: Strafford defended himself so well that his alleged treason could not legally be proved.
  • great: We are in fact party to a great treason.

Modifies a noun

  • trial: However, Bacon betrayed Essex during the latter's treason trial.
  • charge: Ocalan awaits trial on treason charges in a remote island jail in western Turkey.
  • law: We should redefine and simplify our treason laws along the lines of the USA as contained in its Constitution.
  • felony: Tables, pictures etc: Tables: tabular details relating to treason felony prisoners ( offense, sentence, age, medical records etc.

Noun used with modifier

  • gunpowder: I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.
  • war: He was charged with " war treason " and was imprisoned in the Tower of London.
treason Quotes

T'abhor the makers, and their laws approve, Is to hate traitors and the treason love.

—Dryden,John

   The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason.

—Eliot,T(homas) S(tearns)

Music is no different from opium. Music affects the human mind in a way that makes peoplethinkof nothing but music and sensual matters† Music is a treason to the country, a treason to our youth, and we should cut out all this music and replace it with something instructive.

—Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah

Curse on his virtues! they've undone his country. Such popular humanity is treason.

—Addison,Joseph

Treason doth never prosper, what's the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.

—Harington, SirJohn

   But treason is not owned when 'tis descried; Successful crimes alone are justified.

—Dryden,John

Pension. Pay given to state hireling for treason to his country.

—Johnson, Samuel known as Dr Johnson