Espionage
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The act or process of learning secret information through clandestine means. countable, uncountable
"So intolerable did Heavy Benson's espionage become, that Raynham would have grown depopulated of its womankind had not Adrian interfered, who pointed out to the Baronet what a fearful arm his butler was wielding."
- 2 the systematic use of spies to get military or political secrets wordnet
Example
More examples"If you engage in espionage for a foreign power, you are selling your country down the river."
Etymology
Recorded since 1793, from French espionnage, from espionner (“to spy”), from Middle French espionner (“to spy”), from espion (“spy”), from Old French espion (“spy”), from Frankish *spehō (“spy”), from Frankish *spehōn (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to spy, peek, peer”). In modern times, the French pronunciation of the s, which had fallen silent since the 13th century, was restored due to the influence of Italian spione (“spy”), and was therefore also adopted by the English. More at spy.
Related phrases
More for "espionage"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.