- 1叛徒、叛國者；口語裡也用來說背叛朋友的人。開玩笑時說「你這個叛徒」也很常見。
A traitor is someone who a trust — who turns against their own country, their friends, or the things they said they believed in. The core case is political: a soldier who passes secrets to the enemy, a general who joins the other side. That is where the word is heaviest, and in many countries it is a legal charge that can end in prison or death. But the word is used far more widely than that. Someone who leaves a group and helps its rivals, who reports a friend's secret to the boss, who abandons a cause they once led — all get called traitors. The essential shape is always the same: you were on the inside, you were trusted, and you used that position against the people who trusted you. That inside part is what makes traitor so much stronger than enemy. An enemy was never yours; a traitor was. So the word carries a heat that few English words match, and calling a real person a traitor is a serious accusation, common in political argument precisely because it wounds. The everyday use is much lighter and usually joking — "you support the other team now? traitor!" — where the tone of voice makes it plain that nobody means it. A related word is , the action; treason, the crime; treachery, the quality.
From the word’s history
From Middle English traitour, from Old French traitor, from Latin trāditor; doublet of traditor and treason.
經古法文來自拉丁文 trāditor，和 treason 同源。
組成From Middle English traitour, from Old French traïtor, from Latin trāditor, "one who hands over" — from tradere, to hand over or deliver. The traitor is literally the person who hands you over to the other side. It pushed out the older native English word swica. It is a doublet of both traditor and treason.
原始詞典資料5 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
traitornoun/ˈtɹeɪtə(ɹ)/
- 1
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.
- 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, [...]
- 2
Someone who takes arms and levies war against their country; or one who aids an enemy in conquering their country.
- 3
One who betrays any confidence or trust.
- 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
traitorverb/ˈtɹeɪtə(ɹ)/
- 1
To act the traitor toward; to betray; to deceive.
traitoradj/ˈtɹeɪtə(ɹ)/
- 1
Traitorous.
- to find a subject staid and wise Already half turn'd traitor by surprise
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。