traitor
/ˈtɹeɪtɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.69 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Someone who violates an allegiance and betrays their country; someone guilty of treason; one who, in breach of trust, delivers their country to an enemy, or yields up any fort or place entrusted to their defense, or surrenders an army or body of troops to the enemy, unless when vanquished.
noun
Someone who takes arms and levies war against their country; or one who aids an enemy in conquering their country.
noun
One who betrays any confidence or trust.
adj
Example Sentences
- "After World War I, the communists and Jews were accused to be traitors by the German right wing (the "stab-in-the-back myth"), ultimately culminating in their persecution and massacre."
- "My Lord of Hereford here whom you call King, / Is a foule traitour to proud Herefords King, / And if you crowne him let me propheſie, / The bloud of Engliſh ſhall manure the ground, / And future ages groane for this foule act, [...]"
- "Yes, that was Vice President Spiro Agnew commemorating the "loyalty" of literal traitors. But what can you really expect from a man whose name rearranged spells "grow a penis.""
- "It's second nature now to think myself a traitor To myself, to all I've ever burdened with my rotting visage I can't breathe, the weight of all I've disappointed crushes me If I were happy, it would feel as if I couldn't trust me"
- "It took you two weeks To go off and date her Guess you didn't cheat But you're still, you're still a traitor Yeah, you're still a traitor"
- "to find a subject staid and wise Already half turn'd traitor by surprise"
Etymology
From Middle English traitor, traitour, traytour, from Old French traïtor (French traître), from Latin trāditor. Displaced native Middle English swike from Old English swica (“traitor”), and Middle English proditour and traditour borrowed directly from Latin. The general Old English word denoting "traitor" was lǣwa or lǣwend. Doublet of traditor and treason.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: traitor, trāditor
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈtɹeɪtɚ/
- British English: /ˈtɹeɪtə(ɹ)/
Inflected Forms
traitors (plural)
traitour (alternative, obsolete)
traitors (present, singular)
traitoring (participle, present)
traitored (participle, past)
traitored (past)
more traitor (comparative)
most traitor (superlative)