To reveal someone's secrets or break their trust by telling someone else, or to reveal something unintentionally through actions.
From Old French 'betrayir', combining 'be-' (intensifier) and 'trair' (to betray), from Latin 'tradere' (to hand over). The word literally means to hand someone over.
In Shakespeare and medieval literature, betrayal was so shameful that it was described in the most intense language—Judas's betrayal of Jesus was considered the worst act imaginable, and the language around it shaped how the word feels.
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