traitor

See also:traïtor

English

Alternative forms

• traitour(obsolete)

Etymology

FromMiddle Englishtraitor,traitour,traytour,fromOld Frenchtraïtor(Frenchtraître), fromLatintrāditor.Displaced nativeMiddle EnglishswikefromOld Englishswica(“traitor”),andMiddle Englishproditourandtraditourborrowed directly fromLatin.The general Old English word denoting "traitor" waslǣwaorlǣwend.Doubletoftraditor.

Pronunciation

• (UK)IPA^(key):/ˈtɹeɪtə(ɹ)/
• (US)enPR:trā′tər,IPA^(key):/ˈtɹeɪtɚ/,[ˈtʰɹeɪɾɚ]
• Homophone:trader(in dialects with flapping)

  • Audio(US):

    (file)

• Rhymes:-eɪtə(ɹ)

Noun

traitor(pluraltraitors)

1. Someone whoviolatesanallegianceandbetraystheir country; someone guilty oftreason;one who, inbreachoftrust,delivers their country to anenemy,oryieldsup any fort or placeentrustedto their defense, orsurrendersanarmyor body of troops to the enemy, unless whenvanquished.

   AfterWorld War I,the communists and Jews were accused to betraitorsby the Germanright wing(the "stab-in-the-back myth"), ultimately culminating in theirpersecutionandmassacre.

   • 1595December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare],The Tragedie of King Richard the Second.[…](First Quarto), London:[…]Valentine SimmesforAndrow Wise,[…],published1597,→OCLC,[Act IV, scene i]:

     My Lord of Hereford here whom you call King, / Is a fouletraitourto 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, [...]

   • 2017October 8, “Confederacy” (14:45 from the start), inLast Week Tonight with John Oliver‎^[1],season 4, episode26,John Oliver(actor), via HBO:

     Yes, that was Vice President Spiro Agnew commemorating the "loyalty" of literaltraitors.But what can you really expect from a man whose name rearranged spells "grow a penis."

2. Someone who takes arms andlevieswar against their country; or one who aids an enemy inconqueringtheir country.
3. (by extension)One whobetraysanyconfidenceortrust.
   • 2019,Patricia Taxxon (lyrics and music), “Cold Water”, inDoraemon:

     It's second nature now to think myself atraitor
     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

   • 2021,Olivia Rodrigo,Dan Nigro(lyrics and music), “Traitor”,inSour‎^[2],performed by Olivia Rodrigo:

     It took you two weeks
     To go off and date her
     Guess you didn't cheat
     But you're still, you're still atraitor
     Yeah, you're still atraitor

Synonyms

• (all senses):Benedict Arnold(US),quisling,Judas
• (one who betrays a trust):betrayer,fink,snake,snake in the grass

Hyponyms

• race traitor;see alsoThesaurus:informant

Derived terms

• traitordom
• traitorhood
• traitorish
• traitorize
• traitorless
• traitorlike
• traitorly
• traitorous
• traitorship
• traitorsome
• traitor tracing

Translations

one who betrays; a betrayer

• Abkhaz:aчарҳәаҩ(ačarḥʷajʷ)
• Acehnese:peungkhianat
• Afar:ganeyna
• Afrikaans:verraaier
• Albanian:tradhtar(sq)m
• Amharic:ከዳተኛ(kedatenya)
• Arabic:خَائِنm(ḵāʔin),خَائِنَةf(ḵāʔina),غَدَّارm(ḡaddār),غَدَّارَةf(ḡaddāra)
• Aramaic:ܡܫܠܡܢܐm
• Armenian:դավաճան(hy)(davačan)
• Avar:хиянатчи(xijanatči)
• Awadhi:गद्दार(gaddaar)
• Azerbaijani:satqın,xain(az)
• Balinese:pengkhianat
• Baoule:sran m’ɔ saci sran’n
• Bashkir:хыянатсы(xıyanatsı)
• Basque:saltzaile
• Belarusian:здра́днікm(zdrádnik),здра́дніцаf(zdrádnica)
• Bengali:গদ্দার(bn)(goddar)
• Betawi:pengkhianat
• Bikol Central:traydor
• Breton:treitour(br)m,treitourezf
• Bulgarian:преда́тел(bg)m(predátel),преда́телкаf(predátelka),изме́нник(bg)m(izménnik),изме́нничкаf(izménnička),изме́нницаf(izménnica)
• Buryat:урбагша(urbagša)
• Catalan:traïdor(ca)m,traïdora(ca)f
• Cebuano:traydor
• Chamorro:traidot
• Chechen:please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Cantonese:Gian thần(gaan¹san⁴),Bạn đồ(bun⁶tou⁴)

  Mandarin:Bạn đồ(zh)(pàntú),Mại quốc tặc／Mại quốc tặc(zh)(màiguózéi),Bối bạn giả(zh)(bèipànzhě),Quốc tặc／Quốc tặc(zh)(guózéi),Nghịch tặc／Nghịch tặc(zh)(nìzéi)

• Chuukese:chon rikilo
• Chuvash:сутӑнчӑк(sut̬ănč̬ăk),предатель(predat̬elʹ)
• Cornish:traytourm,traytouresf
• Corsican:traditore
• Crimean Tatar:саткъын(satqın)
• Czech:zrádce(cs)m,zrádkyně(cs)f,vlastizrádce(cs)m,vlastizrádkyněf,velezrádcem,velezrádkyněf
• Danish:forræderc
• Dogri:गद्दार(gaddar)
• Dutch:verrader(nl)m
• Dyula:janfakɛla,janfabaga
• Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl:traidor
• Esperanto:perfidulo,perfidulino(female)
• Estonian:reetur,äraandja
• Faroese:svíkjari
• Finnish:maanpetturi,petturi(fi)
• Fon:mɛslɛ́tɔ́
• French:traître(fr)m,traîtresse(fr)f
• Friulian:tradidôr
• Fula:janfaajo
• Galician:treidorm,catralvom,turdiom,tredom,aleivem,ransoñom,suiñom
• Georgian:მოღალატე(moɣalaṭe)
• German:Verräter(de)m,Verräterin(de)f,
• Greek:προδότης(el)m(prodótis),δοσίλογος(el)m(dosílogos)

  Ancient:προδότηςm(prodótēs),προδότιςf(prodótis)

• Greenlandic:persuttartoq
• Guaraní:traidor
• Gujarati:દેશદ્રોહી(Dēśadrōhī)
• Gurmukhi:

  Punjabi:ਦੇਸ਼ਧ੍ਰੋਹੀ(deśdhrohī)

• Haitian Creole:trèt
• Hausa:maci amana,mayaudari
• Hebrew:בּוֹגֵד(he)m(bogéd)
• Hiligaynon:traidor
• Hindi:ग़द्दारm(ġaddār),द्रोही(hi)f(drohī),विद्रोही(hi)f(vidrohī),देशद्रोही(hi)(deśadrohī)
• Hungarian:áruló(hu)
• Iban:pengkhianat
• Icelandic:svikarim
• Ido:trahizanto(io),trahizinto,trahizero(io),trahizemo
• Ilocano:traidor
• Indonesian:pengkhianat(id)
• Irish:^{(pleaseverify)}fealltóirm,^{(pleaseverify)}tréatúirm
• Italian:traditore(it)m,traditrice(it)f,voltagabbana(it)morf,banderuola(it)f,giravolta(it)f,proditorem,proditricef
• Japanese:Mại quốc nô(ja)(ばいこくど, baikokudo),Phi quốc dân(ja)(ひこくみん, hikokumin),Quốc tặc(ja)(こくぞく, kokuzoku),Phản nghịch giả(ja)(はんぎゃくしゃ, hangyakusha),Lí thiết り giả(ja)(うらぎりもの, uragirimono),Nghịch tặc(ja)(gyakuzoku)
• Javanese:pengkhianat
• Jingpho:gumshem ai wa
• Kannada:ದೇಶದ್ರೋಹಿ(kn)(dēśadrōhi)
• Kapampangan:traydor
• Karo Batak:pengkhianat
• Kazakh:сатқын(satqyn)
• Khasi:nongshet kylla
• Khmer:អ្នកក្បត់(nĕək kbɑt)
• Komi-Zyrian:предатель(predaťeľ)
• Kongo:muyekudi
• Konkani:गद्दार(gaddār)
• Korean:배반자( bối phản giả )(ko)(baebanja),매국노( mại quốc nô )(ko)(maegungno),국적 ( quốc tặc )(ko)(gukjeok)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish:xaîn(ku)

• Kyrgyz:чыккынчы(ky)(cıkkıncı)
• Lai:ram hlen hmang
• Lao:ຜູ້ທໍລະຍົດ(phū thǭ la nyot)
• Latgalian:nūdeviejs
• Latin:prōditorm,prōditrīxf,trāditorm,trāditrīxf,
• Latvian:nodevējsm,nodevējaf
• Ligurian:traditô
• Limburgish:verraoder
• Lithuanian:išdavikasm,išdavikėf
• Lombard:traditur
• Macedonian:предавникm(predavnik),предавничкаf(predavnička),издајникm(izdajnik),издајничкаf(izdajnička)
• Madurese:pengkhianat
• Maithili:गद्दार(gaddār)
• Makasar:pengkhianat
• Malagasy:mpamadika(mg)
• Malay:pembelot,penderhaka,pengkhianat
• Malayalam:ഒറ്റുകാരൻ(ml)m(oṟṟukāraṉ)
• Maltese:traditur
• Mam:traidor
• Manx:traitoor
• Maori:kaikaiwaiū
• Marathi:देशद्रोही(deśadrohī)
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari:предатель(predateĺ)

• Marwari:गद्दार(gaddār),देशद्रोही(deśadrohī)
• Mauritian Creole:traiter
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic:урвагч(mn)(urvagč)

• N'Ko:ߖߊ߲߬ߝߊ߬ߒߕߋ(janfaŋte)
• Nepali:देशद्रोही(deśdrohī),गद्दार(ne)(gaddār)
• Newar:देशद्रोही ४.(deshadrohee 4),देशद्रोही ३.(deśadrohī 3.)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål:sviker(no)m,forræder(no)

  Nynorsk:svikarm,forrædar(nn)m

• Occitan:traïdor(oc)m,traïdoiraf,traite(oc)m,traitaf
• Odia:ଦେଶଦ୍ରୋହୀ(desadrohi),ବିଶ୍ୱାସଘାତକ(or)(biswasaghaataka)
• Old English:lǣwam
• Oromo:gantuu
• Ossetian:гадзрахатӕй цӕуӕг(gaʒraxatæj cæwæg)
• Pangasinan:traidor,traydor
• Papiamentu:traidor,traidó
• Pashto:خاين(ps)m(xāyen),غدار(ps)m(ǧadār)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian:خائِن(fa)(xâ'en),غَدَّار(fa)(ğaddâr),خِیانَتکار(xiyânat-kâr)

• Polish:zdrajca(pl)m,zdrajczyni(pl)f,zaprzaniec(pl)m,sprzedawczyk(pl)m,konfident(pl)
• Portuguese:traidor(pt),traidoraf
• Q'eqchi:aj q'etol aatin
• Quechua:traidor
• Romani:traitori
• Romanian:trădător(ro)m,trădătoare(ro)f
• Rukiga:omuhemu
• Russian:преда́тель(ru)m(predátelʹ),преда́тельница(ru)f(predátelʹnica),изме́нник(ru)m(izménnik),изме́нница(ru)f(izménnica)
• Rwanda-Rundi:umugambanyi,umuhemu
• Samoan:faalata
• Sango:traître(sg)
• Sanskrit:पक्षहर(sa)m(pakṣahara),द्रोहप्रवेशकm(drohapraveśaka),राजद्रोहीm(rājadrohī)
• Scottish Gaelic:^{(pleaseverify)}truthair,* Scottish Gaelic:brathadairm
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic:ѝзда̄јнӣкm,ѝздајицаf,ѝзда̄јницаf

  Roman:ìzdājnīk(sh)m,ìzdajica(sh)f,ìzdājnicaf

• Seychellois Creole:traiter
• Shan:ၽူႈၽိတ်းပိူင်ႈ(phūu phít pōeng),ၵူၼ်းၽိတ်းမိူင်း(kúun phít móeng)
• Sicilian:tradituri
• Silesian:zdrajca,zdradzca
• Simalungun Batak:pengkhianat
• Sindhi:غدار(ghdar),غداري ڪندڙ(ghdari kandar)
• Slovak:zradcam,zradkyňaf
• Slovene:izdajalec(sl)m,izdajalkaf
• Sorani:

  Central Kurdish:خۆفرۆش(xofroş)

• Sotho:moeki
• Southern Ndebele:umkhapheli
• Spanish:traidor(es)m,traidora(es)f,serpiente(es)morf(figurative),proditorm
• Susu:yanfante
• Swahili:msaliti(sw)
• Swazi:umkhapheli
• Swedish:förrädare(sv)c,quisling(sv)c
• Tagalog:traidor
• Tajik:хоин(xoyin),хиёнаткор(xiyonatkor),хиёнатгар(xiyonatgar)
• Tamil:துரோகி(ta)(turōki),தேசத்துரோகி(tēcatturōki)
• Telugu:ద్రోహి(te)(drōhi),దేశద్రోహి(te)(dēśadrōhi)
• Tetum:traidór
• Thai:กบฏ(th)(gà-bòt),ผู้ทรยศ(pûu-tɔɔ-rá-yót),คนทรยศ(kon tɔɔ-rá-yót)
• Toba Batak:pengkhianat
• Tongan:tangata lavaki
• Tswana:moeki
• Tulu:ದೇಶದ್ರೋಹಿ(dēśadrōhi),ದ್ರೋಹಿ(drōhi)
• Turkish:hain(tr),sadakâtsiz,satkın(tr)
• Turkmen:haýyn
• Tuvan:саттыныкчы(sattınıkçı)
• Udmurt:предатель(predaťeľ)
• Ukrainian:зра́дникm(zrádnyk),зра́дницяf(zrádnycja)
• Urdu:غَدَّارm(ġaddār),خِیانَت گَرm(xiyānat gar)
• Uyghur:خائىن(xa'in),ساتقىن(satqin)
• Uzbek:xoin(uz),sotqin(uz),xiyonatchi(uz),xiyonatkor(uz)
• Venda:mufheṱi
• Venetian:traditor
• Vietnamese:kẻ phản bội
• Walloon:traite(wa)morf
• Waray-Waray:traydor
• Welsh:bradwrm
• West Frisian:ferrieder
• Wolof:traitre
• Yakut:предатель(predatel)
• Yiddish:פֿאַררעטער(yi)m(farreter)
• Yucatec Maya:traidor
• Zapotec:traidor
• Zazaki:xayınc,ğedarc

Verb

traitor(third-person singular simple presenttraitors,present participletraitoring,simple past and past participletraitored)

1. To act thetraitortoward; tobetray;todeceive.

Translations

betray—seebetray

Adjective

traitor(comparativemoretraitor,superlativemosttraitor)

1. Traitorous.
   • 1735,Alexander Pope,“The Second Satire of Dr.John Donne”,inThe Works of Mr. Alexander Pope,volume II, London:[…]J. Wright, for Lawton Gilliver[…],→OCLC:

     to find a subject staid and wise
     Already half turn'dtraitorby surprise

Translations

traitorous

• Bulgarian:предателски(bg)(predatelski)
• Catalan:traïdor(ca)
• Dutch:verraderlijk(nl),verraderlijke(nl)
• Finnish:petollinen(fi)
• Greek:προδοτικός(el)(prodotikós)
• Macedonian:преда́внички(predávnički),изда́јнички(izdájnički)
• Portuguese:traidor(pt)
• Spanish:traidor(es)

Old French

Alternative forms

• traïtor

Etymology

Adaptation ofLatintrāditor, trāditorem.

Noun

traitoroblique singular,m(oblique pluraltraitors,nominative singulartraitre,nominative pluraltraitor)

1. traitor
   • c.1180,Chrétien de Troyes,Lancelot ou le Chevalier de la charrette:

     Ne croire pas cetraïtor.

     Do not believe this traitor.

Related terms

• traïson

Descendants

• French:traître
• Norman:traître(Jersey)
• Walloon:traite
• →Middle English:traytour,traitour,traitor
  • English:traitor
  • →Middle Irish:trétúir
    • Irish:tréatúir

Old Occitan

Etymology

FromLatintrāditor, trāditorem.

Noun

traitorm(oblique pluraltraitors,nominative singulartraitors,nominative pluraltraitor)

1. traitor

References

• Walther von Wartburg(1928–2002) “traditor”, inFranzösisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch,volumes 13: To–Tyrus,pages152–153