/betray/definition

betray

-) Verb.

-) Pronunciation and accent: bɪˈtreɪ. 

-) It is dated from the end of 1200.

-) Etymology: it is analysed into bi- (= be-, intensive prefix) + trayen (= betray), from Old French traïr, from Latin tradĕre (= to deliver, hand over).

-) Transitively: 1. To deliver (a person or thing) into the power of an enemy, by treachery or perfidious conduct; to give up treacherously.

He entered into a correspondence with the Spaniards, betrayed the city to them for a sum of money, and engaged the whole garrison to desert with him to the Spanish service.

Hume… The History of England 1688

… who was the only person upon earth who could have betrayed us to my father, because he alone was trusted with the secret of our intended marriage…

Tobias Smollett… The adventures… 1748

I answered his questions ingenuously, and, on his pledging his word of honour that he would not betray me to my guardians, I…

Quincey… Confessions… 1821

 Perhaps Jeremy had thought as he lay there dying and saw his store rifled, that he, Ilya, had betrayed the treasure.

Gorky… Three Men 1902

… he could scarce hope to betray the castle into the hands of the English without some aid within.

Aguilar… The Days of Bruce 1871

-) 2. To prove faithless, treacherous or disloyal to (a person who trusts, a cause, etc.); to behave perfidiously with (someone). Less properly: to disappoint (someone), by a behavior contrary to his hope.

-) Translation: traicionar, in French; trahir, in Spanish; tradire, in Italian.

The Beaver was placed by this communication in an embarrassing situation, for should he disclose what he had heard, he betrayed his friend…

Howe… Historical Collections… 1850

The most artful and insinuating promises were held out to him, to induce him to retract. Life and dignities were promised him, if he would consent to betray his cause.

John Lord… A Modern History… 1874

… if such a man doth not betray his cause and his master, it is only because the temptation was not properly offered, or the profit was too small, or the danger was too great.

Swift… The Prose Works 1898

Had Gregory, the only man to whom I had confided my secret, betrayed his trust?

Bentley's Miscellany, vol. IX 

-) 3. (Of something or someone) to cause (someone) to incur error or be in a inconvenient situation, by false guidance; to lead into error or deceive, as if by treachery.

-) With the preposition into + noun or gerund standing for the error or the situation:

… though the warmth of my temper betrayed me into some unbecoming expressions…

Walpole… The Castle of Otranto 1764

A second thought shewed me the rashness of this scheme, and I wondered by what infirmity of mind I could be betrayed into a momentary approbation of it.

Brown… Wieland 1798

He went to work very artfully, and if I had not been made a little distrustful by his over-acted civility, I might have been betrayed into telling him the whole state of the case.

Sarah Burney… Tales of fancy 1820

He glanced at the door, as if he would like to escape from the victim he had betrayed into his power…

Hentz… Robert Graham 1856

I again begged his pardon for being betrayed into interruptions.

Dickens… Three Ghost Stories 1866

The difficulty he felt, prompted, or, rather, betrayed him into a most unworthy course, which altogether relaxed the check I had put upon myself.

Bentley's Miscellany, vol. IX

-) With the preposition to + noun standing for the error:

Others are betrayed to the same desertion of themselves by a contrary fallacy.

Johnson… The Rambler 1825

I fear I was betrayed to some lightness, for the awful eye of the parson […] was upon me in an instant, souring my incipient jest to the tristful severities of a funeral.

Lamb… The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb

He felt like one whom self-confidence had betrayed to the very edge of a precipice.

Reade… The Cloister and the Hearth 1931

-) 4. (Of someone) to disclose by words and with breach of faith (that which should be kept secret or unrevealed); to reveal (a truth about one’s friend, or a patient, etc.), as if by treachery.

I want you to betray no secret, but I ask you for your advice.

Trollope… The Claverings 1866

-) 5. (Of someone) to reveal or disclose unintentionally (something about oneself which one desired to keep secret, as one’s will, character, presence, etc.), as if by treachery of one’s prudence or intention.

… there was not the least chance of his being able to open it to effect his escape, without betraying himself by making a noise.

Dickens… A House to Let 1858

… I nearly betrayed myself by a laugh…

Alcott… Little Women 1868

… I had no desire at present to betray myself, and to let my comrades know the step I was contemplating

Charles Dixon… Fifteen Hundred Miles An Hour 1895

The more angry he became the more he betrayed to me the fact that there was something to conceal. He had never told me the name of the man who had offered him this position, but I knew that there must be an intermediary.

Rebecca Porter… The Rest Hollow Mystery 1922

-) 6. (Of something) to indicate or show incidentally (what is not obvious, or what is concealed).

“ Do you love him ?” For a moment or two Bessy remained silent, striving to arrange her words so that they should contain no falsehood, and yet betray no truth.

Trollope… Tales of all countries 1861

It was a harsh answer, but the frown which accompanied it betrayed irresolution as well as anger. 

Veley… Mitchelhurst Place 1884

A French clock on the mantel-piece, framed of brass and crystal, which betrayed its inner structure as the transparent sides of some insects betray their vital processes, struck ten with the mellow and lingering clangor of a distant cathedral bell.

Hay… The Bread-winners 1901

Stealthily, walking on tip-toe and shading the candle lest it should betray their presence through the shutterless windows, they went first into the big dining-room.

Algernon Blackwood… The Empty House 1906

… leaning against a tree, and holding in his breath, lest the least noise should betray his presence, he remained motionless there, gazing upon what he beheld in mute admiration.

Bentley's Miscellany, vol. IX

-) Words derived from the verb BETRAY: betrayal, betrayed, betrayer, betraying, unbetrayed, unbetraying.