▪ I. traitor, n.
(ˈtreɪtə(r))
Forms: α. 3 treitre, 5 trai-, traytre. β. 3–4 traitur, traytur, 3–7 traytour, (4–6 -oure), 3–8 traitour, 4–5 -oure, -ur(e, treitour, tretour, 4–6 Sc. trature, tratour, 5 tretowre. γ. 4 Sc. tratore, 4–5 traytore, 4–8 traytor, 5– traitor. δ. 6 traiter, 6–7 trayter.
[a. OF. nom. traitre (= Prov. traire, F. traître):—pop.L. trāˈdītor for L. ˈtrāditor traitor, betrayer; also in acc. form OF. traitor, -ur (Roland, 11th c.), AF. -our (= It. traditore, Sp., Pg. traidor, Prov. traidor, Sard. traitore):—L. trādiˈtōrem, agent-n. f. trādĕre to deliver, hand over, f. trā- (= trans) + dare to give, put.]
1. One who betrays any person that trusts him, or any duty entrusted to him; a betrayer. In early use often, and still traditionally, applied to Judas Iscariot.
| α a 1225 Ancr. R. 194 Heo biswikeð ou, & is ower treitre. c 1230 Hali Meid. 9 Ha habbeð itricchet te as treitres. 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. iii. ii. i. 231 To al crysten men thou hast ben traytre. |
| β, γ a 1300 Cursor M. 11530 (Cott.) He was traitur fals in fai. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints vii. (Jacobus Min.) 29 Þat wekit tratore Iudas. Ibid. xii. (Mathias) 242 Þo he wyste he suld be traytore. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 435 Pieres þe plowman.. trauailleth & tulyeth for a tretour also sore As for a trewe tydy man. 1382 Wyclif Mark xiv. 44 The traitour hadde ȝouun to hem a tokene. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Collect St. Matthias, In the place of the traytor Judas. 1657 Trapp Comm. Ezra vii. 17 Said Christ, even to the very Traytour that did seek and suck his blood. 1867 M. Arnold St. Brandan iv, It is—Oh, where shall Brandan fly?—The traitor Judas, out of hell! |
2. spec. One who is false to his allegiance to his sovereign or to the government of his country; one adjudged guilty of treason (including formerly petit treason) or of any crime so regarded. Also fig. or in extended sense.
Traitor's Gate, the river gate of the Tower of London by which traitors, and state prisoners generally, were committed to the Tower. In quot. 1678 fig.
| α 1474 Caxton Chesse ii. iv. (1883) 48 Slewe the traytre Goribalde. 1481 ― Godeffroy cxvii. 176 Yf ony were vntrew & suche a traytre that wold destroye his countrey. |
| β γ c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 38/146 ‘Ey, traytours’, quath þe luþere Quen. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10693 In gibet hii were an honge, as to more vilte,..& so hii miȝte lerni traitour to be. a 1300 Cursor M. 11889 Aha! traiturs..i sale Hing yow bot ye mak me hale. 1375 Barbour Bruce iv. 19 Maknab, a fals tratour. c 1400 Destr. Troy 7899 But the triet men of Troy traitur hym cald. 1444 Rolls of Parlt. V. 111/2 He to be juged and demed as a Traitour, and suche execution to be don upon his body, as shuld be don uppon a Traitour atteint of hie Treson. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iv. iv. 110 Vnlesse I proue false traitor to my selfe. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. v. vi. 5 Turne thy false face thou traytor. 1678 Yng. Man's Call. 31 Man enters into the world at traitors gate; born in sin, and conceived in iniquity. 1713 Addison Ct. Tariff ¶23 He called [him] a lyar [and] a traytor. a 1771 Gray Dante 7 If the telling may Beget the Traitour's Infamy. 1821 Byron Mar. Fal. v. i, He is a traitor, and betray'd the state. 1881 Besant & Rice Chapl. of Fleet I. 49 [Did] we not hack the limbs of our traitors, and stick them upon Temple Bar? Mod. A traitor in the camp; a traitor to the cause. |
| δ 1583 Ld. Burleigh Exec. for Treason (1675) 44 [They] ought to be adjudged Traiters. 1642 in Verney Mem. (1907) I. 242 Those thatt told you he was a trayter. |
3. attrib. or as adj. That is a traitor, traitorous.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 4397 (Cott.) Ne herd yee na wight how Yon traitur juu me wald sceind. c 1450 Lovelich Grail lii. 275 A tretour boteler That kyng Marahans sone poysoned. c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. iv. ix, This wylie tratour tod On kneis fell. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, i. i. 102 False Mowbray..consequently like a Traitor Coward, Sluc'd out his innocent soule through streames of blood. 1700 Dryden Pal. & Arc. ii. 568 Th' assassinating wife, the household fiend, And, far the blackest there, the traitor-friend. 1726 Pope Odyss. xxii. 93 He drew his traitor-sword, And like a lion rushed against his lord. 1837 A. Tennent Vis. Glencoe 18 Some traitor spy, Meant to betray thee with a lie. 1887 J. M. Fuller in Dict. Chr. Biog. IV. 837/2 Judas the traitor⁓Apostle. |
4. Comb., as traitor-led adj., traitor-like adj. and adv., traitor-wise adv.
| 1594 Warres Cyrus 794 Or else Libanio..should die for his so traitorlike reuolt. 1598 in Archpriest Controv. (Camden) I. 210 Reputed by our Prince and countrye as trayterwise and disloyal. 1598 Rowlands Betraying Christ, etc. G ij b, Traitor-led troopes by night did apprehend him. 1721 Strype Eccl. Mem. III. l. 389 Heavy tidings came..that the French had won Calais..: for, traitor-like, it was said to be sold and delivered unto them. |
▪ II. † traitor, v. Obs.
[f. prec. n.]
a. trans. To make (any one) a traitor. b. intr. To act as a traitor.
| 16.. Lithgow (Webster, 1864), But time, it traitors me. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Thyrsis in Dispr. Beauty Wks. (1711) 23/1 Most woful wretch! whom shining hair and eyes Lead to love's dungeon, traitor'd by a sight. 1656 S. H. Gold. Law 5 If it be said, that the King traytor'd such, or as it related to himself only. |