traitor
/ˈtreɪtə
/noun
A person who betrays someone or something, such as a friend, cause, or principle: he was a traitor to his own class...
- This is not a democratic sport of the people, which has been betrayed by some money-grubbing traitors.
- My friend thinks we are traitors and sulks and snaps at us if we don't react to situations the same way she does.
- The liars, the traitors, the thugs, and the outlaws cannot be handed the destiny of a nation like India.
Synonyms
betrayer, back-stabber, double-crosser, double-dealer, renegade, Judas, quisling, fifth columnist, viper;
turncoat, defector, apostate, deserter;
collaborator, fraternizer, colluder, informer, double agent
informal snake in the grass, two-timer, rat, scab
rare traditor, tergiversator, renegado
Phrases
turn traitor
Origin
Middle English: from Old French traitour, from Latin traditor, from tradere 'hand over'.
tradition from Late Middle English:
A tradition is something passed on and comes from Latin from tradere ‘deliver’ formed from trans- ‘across’ and dare ‘give’. The abbreviation trad dates from the 1950s, usually in the context of jazz. Traitor (Middle English), someone who hands over things to the enemy, and treason (Middle English) the act of handing over, are from the same root.