Forms: 3–5 bitrai(e, -y(e, by-, betraye, 4–7 betrai(e, 4– betray. Pa. pple. 5 betrayne. [ME. bi-, betraien, f. bi-, BE- 2 + traien TRAY, a. OF. traïr:—L. tradĕre to deliver, hand over.]
1. trans. To give up to, or place in the power of an enemy, by treachery or disloyalty.
c. 1275. Passion Our Lord, 93, in O. E. Misc. On me scal bitraye · þat nv is vre yuere.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 16514. Iudas … come als traitur ful fals his lauerd for to be-trai.
1382. Wyclif, Jer. xxvi. 15. An ynnocent blod ȝee shul betraȝe aȝen ȝou self.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, XXVIII. 11196. The toune to be-tray, truly, þai thoght.
1526. Tindale, Matt. xxvi. 21. Verely I saye vnto you, that one of you shall betraye [Wyclif, bitraye] me.
1584. Powel, Lloyd’s Cambria, 374. Lhewelyn was betraied by the men of Buelht.
1718. Pope, Iliad, X. 521. Once a traitor, thou betray’st no more.
1862. Stanley, Jew. Ch. (1877), I. xiii. 265. The faithless guardian … tempted to betray the sacred treasure.
† b. To give up or expose to punishment. Obs.
1590. Shaks., Com. Err., V. 90. She did betray me to my owne reproofe. Ibid. (1598), Merry W., III. iii. 207. To betray him to another punishment.
1660. Stanley, Hist. Philos. (1701), 87/1. Circumvented and betrayed to excessive Punishments.
2. To be or prove false to (a trust or him who trusts one); to be disloyal to; to disappoint the hopes or expectations of.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 1634. ‘Noe,’ God said, ‘i tell till þe, All þis world bitrais me.’
c. 1384. Chaucer, H. Fame, 294. Let us speke of Eneas How he betrayed hir allas.
c. 1430. Syr Tryam., 165 (Halliw.). Syr, he sayde, for certenté, Your quene hath you betrayne.
c. 1590. Marlowe, Dido, V. i. Why wilt thou so betray thy sons good hap?
1791. Burke, Corr. (1844), III. 278. People who … betray every cause that they have in hand.
1844. A. B. Welby, Poems (1867), 24. Those whom I trust are the first to betray.
b. fig. To prove false to, let go weakly or basely.
1614. Lodge, Seneca, 1. Without any election we rather betray than bestow our benefits.
1624. Quarles, Job (1717), 171. Worn bare with grief, the patient Job betraid His seven-days silence.
1765. H. Walpole, Otranto, iii. (1798), 51. Scorning … to betray the courage he had always manifested.
† 3. loosely. To cheat, disappoint. Obs.
1588. Shaks., Tit. A., V. ii. 146. Reuenge now goes To lay a complot to betray thy foes.
a. 1704. T. Brown, Sat. Quack, Wks. I. 65. Her much wrong’d child was of its life betray’d.
4. To lead astray or into error, as a false guide; to mislead, seduce, deceive (the trustful).
c. 1250. Lay., 8924. He wende [þat Andr]ogius bi-traie [c. 1205 swiken] hi[ne wo]lde.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 137. Had hem bitraied with his sophistrye.
1604. Shaks., Oth., V. ii. 6. Yet she must dye, else shee’l betray more men.
1647. Cowley, Mistr., Bargain, i. Take heed, take heed, thou lovely Maid, Nor be by glittering ills betraid.
1775. Johnson, Tax. no Tyr., 35. Their wit has not yet betrayed them to heresy.
1860. Pusey, Min. Proph., 239. Pride and self-confidence betray man to his fall.
5. To disclose or reveal with breach of faith (a secret, or that which should be kept secret).
1735. Pope, Prol. Sat., 298. Who tells whate’er you think, whate’er you say, And, if he lie not, must at least betray.
1798. Ferriar, Illustr. Sterne, v. 150. The officious doctor … betrayed his patient’s confidence.
1848. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., II. 65. He betrayed to Barillon all the schemes adverse to France.
1855. Tennyson, Maud, II. v. 34. And another, a statesman there, betraying His party-secret, fool, to the press.
6. To reveal or disclose against one’s will or intention the existence, identity, real character of (a person or thing desired to be kept secret).
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., I. ii. 138. I do betray my selfe with blushing.
1667. Milton, P. L., IV. 117. Ire, envie and despair … betraid Him Counterfet.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., II. 650. Antick Vests; which, thro’ their shady fold, Betray the Streaks of ill-dissembl’d Gold.
1759. Johnson, Rasselas, xv. Lest they should betray their rank by their unusual behaviour.
1822. Proctor (B. Cornwall), A Voice. She tries to hide The love her eyes betray.
7. To reveal, disclose or show incidentally; to exhibit, show signs of, to show (a thing which there is no attempt to keep secret).
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 426. His Bowels bruis’d within, Betray no Wound on his unbroken Skin.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 106, ¶ 3. If he coughs, or betrays any Infirmity of Old Age.
1774. J. Bryant, Mythol., II. 174. A temple of this sort, which betrayed great antiquity.
1841. Myers, Cath. Th., III. § 14. 51. An irreverence which betrays an utter unconsciousness of our due position.
1856. Froude, Hist. Eng. (1858), I. ii. 92. No prince of the house of Lancaster betrayed a wish to renew the quarrel with the Church.
