Traitor

How to spell traitor

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce traitor

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does traitor mean?

1. nounA person who betrays a country, cause, or the trust of others.

Traitor in a sentence

• The spy was branded a traitor after selling secrets to a rival nation.

• Leaking the company's confidential plans made him a traitor in the eyes of his colleagues.

Where does traitor come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word descends from the Latin traditor, meaning 'one who hands something over', an agent noun built on the verb tradere 'to hand over, deliver, or surrender'. That verb itself joins trans- 'across' with dare 'to give', so the literal idea was of giving someone or something across into another's power. In the early Christian era traditor took on a darker shade, naming those who betrayed fellow believers or handed over sacred books to persecutors. English picked the word up in the 1200s through Old French traitre and traitour, with the meaning of one who betrays trust or country. The very same Latin tradere also gave us the much friendlier 'tradition', literally something handed down, so betrayal and heritage are distant cousins; the spelling trap lies in the ending, since the agent suffix here is -or rather than the more common -er.

How the word is built

• trait- (from Latin tradere, to hand over or betray)
• -or (agent noun suffix, 'one who')