From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtreasontrea‧son /ˈtriːzən/ noun [uncountable] SCLBETRAYthe crime of being disloyal to your country or its government, especially by helping its enemies or trying to remove the government using violence → treacherytreason against Richter is accused of committing treason against the state. The defendant was convicted of high treason (=treason of the worst kind) and sentenced to death. —treasonable, treasonous adjective a treasonable act against the head of state
Examples from the Corpus
treason• All five of the men will be charged with committing treason against the state.• Wolf is being tried by the same court that sentenced him to six years in prison for treason and bribery.• He also underwent several periods of defacto house arrest and trial for treason between 1956 and 1961.• Fleming was flown to Washington and tried for treason.• He was now arrested, tried for treason for his support of Jane Grey and condemned to death.• Norris was sentenced to 20 years for treason.• The charges against him included treason.• He was then accused of treason and eventually beheaded.• He was accused of treason against the nation for his willingness to negotiate with Texas and the United States.• The Polisario Front on Aug. 13 accused Hakim of treason.treason against• He was wrongly accused of treason against the U.S. government.Origin treason (1100-1200) Old French traison, from Latin traditio “act of handing over or betraying”, from tradere; → TRAITOR 