treachery
(ˈtrɛtʃərɪ)
Forms: 3–4 tricherie, -eri, trycherye, (3 tricheriȝe), 3–5 tricherye, (4 trichcherye, tricchori, 5 tricchery(e, trichory, 6 tritcherie); 4–7 trecherie, -ery, (4 -eri, -ori, trecchery, -eri, trecchry, 4–5 treccherie, 5 trechory, -ury, tretcherye, 6 -erie, 5–6 trecherye), 6– treachery, (7 treacherie).
[a. OF. trecherie, tricherie (12th c. in Godef.), F. tricherie treachery, f. tricher to cheat + -erie, -ery. See treacher.]
Deceit, cheating, perfidy; violation of faith or betrayal of trust; perfidious conduct.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 202 Þe Vox of ȝiscunge haueð þeos hweolpes: Tricherie & Gile, Þeofðe, Reflac [etc.]. c 1300 Havelok 2988 Hwou he woren with wronge ledde..with trecherie. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 231 Dysposyd to trechury and othyr ill tecchis. 1474 Caxton Chesse iii. iii. (1883) 94 To make amendes to them that by theyr tricherye they haue endomaged. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. iv. 46 But Talus usde, in times of jeopardy, To keepe a nightly watch for dread of treachery. 1599 Dallam in Early Voy. Levant (Hakl. Soc.) 55 We doubted that some tritcherie would hapen unto us. 1611 Cotgr., Tricherie, (whence, as it seemes, our trecherie) cousenage, deceit, a cheating, a beguiling. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. vi. 191 In case of any misconduct or treachery, he threatened..that the Pilots should be instantly shot. 1866 Livingstone Last Jrnls. (1873) I. x. 258 Treachery was suspected. |
| fig. 1896 Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 268 Presenting some resemblance in climate to the Riviera, it [S. California] shares some of its drawbacks, treachery amongst them. |
b. esp. The deception of perfidy of a traitor; treason against a sovereign, lord, or master.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 18882 (Cott.) It most nu nede Þe writte be fulfild..O iudas and his trecheri [Gött. trechori]. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 4 Þe tulk þat þe trammes of tresoun þer wroȝt, Watz tried for his tricherie. a 1425 Cursor M. 15476 (Trin.) Bettur..to haue bene deed..Þen wiþ a kissyng on þis wise His lord done triccherye [v.r. tresun]. 1570 Levins Manip. 106/18 Traytorie, proditio. Treachery, idem. 1651 N. Bacon Dist. Govt. Eng. ii. xl. 98 They preferred the good of their Countrey above all; accounting trechery against it..to be a crime of great concernment. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Treachery, Unfaithfulness, Disloyalty. 1911 G. Milligan in Encycl. Brit. XV. 536/1 In ecclesiastical legend..Judas Iscariot is generally treated as the very incarnation of treachery. |
c. With
a and
pl. An instance of this, an act of perfidy or treason.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 3870 (Cott.) Laban said, ‘frend, ful blethli.’ Bot þar he did a trecheri. c 1300 Havelok 443 He þouthe a ful strong trechery. A trayson, and a felony,..forto make. 1586 J. Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 142/1 They..revolve, as dogs to their vomits, so they to their treasons and treacheries. 1651 Nicholas Papers (Camden) I. 235 Hee that discovered to mee a trechery intended by one Tickell against mee in Irelond. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 66/1 Angles jutting out from..the Wall,..for treacheries, and for the safer throwing their Darts..are of some advantage to the Enemy. 1847 Helps Friends in C. Ser. i. viii. 151 You hear a child reprimanded about a point of dress, or some trivial thing, as if it had committed a treachery. |
d. transf. A substance that treacherously gives way under the feet.
| 1870 Lowell Wks. (1890) III. 277 Slumping clumsily about in the mealy treachery. 1886 G. Allen Kalee's Shrine xiii. 142 The intervening belt [of mud] was one huge waste expanse of liquid treachery. |