high treason

English

Noun

high treason (uncountable)

1. Criminal disloyalty to one's country or a sovereign.
   • 1952, James Avery Joyce: Justice At Work: (this edition Pan 1957) Page 105.

     Formerly, the punishment for high treason was of a most barbarous character…. Women were burnt. A male traitor was dragged or drawn to the place of execution and hanged; but while still alive, he was cut down and disembowelled. His head was then severed from his body which was quartered. The head and quarters, which were at the Kings disposal, were usually exposed in some conspicuous place—the Temple Bar being a favourite spot—after being boiled in salt to prevent putrification and in cumin seed to prevent birds feasting on them.

2. (law) In some jurisdictions, a criminal offence of treason including features regarded as more severe than ordinary treason.
3. (hyperbolic) A betrayal portrayed as especially shocking.

Usage notes

• Formerly distinguished from petty treason or petit treason, which was not against the sovereign.

Translations

Criminal disloyalty to one's country

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: خِيَانَة عُظْمَى f (ḵiyāna ʕuẓmā)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Belarusian: дзяржаўная здрада f (dzjaržaŭnaja zdrada), дзяржздрада f (dzjaržzdrada), здрада дзяржаве f (zdrada dzjaržavje), здрада Радзіме f (zdrada Radzimje)
• Catalan: alta traïció f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 叛國罪 / 叛国罪 (zh) (pànguózuì)

• Czech: velezrada (cs) f, vlastizrada f
• Danish: højforræderi n
• Dutch: hoogverraad (nl)
• Esperanto: altperfido, ŝtatperfido
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: maanpetos (fi)
• French: haute trahison (fr) f
• Georgian: სახელმწიფო ღალატი (saxelmc̣ipo ɣalaṭi), სახელმწიფოს ღალატი (saxelmc̣ipos ɣalaṭi), სამშობლოს ღალატი (samšoblos ɣalaṭi)
• German: Hochverrat (de) m
• Greek: εσχάτη προδοσία f (escháti prodosía)
• Hungarian: felségárulás (hu), hazaárulás (hu)
• Icelandic: landráð (is) n pl
• Irish: ardtréas m
• Italian: alto tradimento
• Japanese: 大逆罪 (ja) (たいぎゃくざい, taigyakuzai)
• Latin: perduellio
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: велепредавство n (velepredavstvo)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: høyforræderi n

• Pannonian Rusyn: велька зрада f (velʹka zrada)
• Polish: zdrada stanu (pl) f
• Portuguese: alta traição f
• Romanian: înaltă trădare f
• Russian: госуда́рственная изме́на (ru) f (gosudárstvennaja izména), изме́на Ро́дине f (izména Ródine), госизме́на (ru) f (gosizména)
• Slovak: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: alta traición f
• Swedish: högförräderi (sv) n
• Turkish: devlete ihanet, vatana ihanet
• Ukrainian: держа́вна зра́да f (deržávna zráda, literally “state treason”)

References

• “high treason”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “treason”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “treason”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Further reading

• high treason on Wikipedia.Wikipedia