The act of abandoning your country, military, group, or cause to join the opposite side.
From Latin 'defectio,' where 'de-' means 'away' and 'facere' means 'to make' or 'to do'—so literally 'to make away' or 'to undo.' It evolved to mean an abandonment of loyalty or duty.
During the Cold War, defections were headline news—athletes, diplomats, and spies escaping to freedom made for dramatic real-life spy stories, and the word carries that historical weight of high-stakes loyalty betrayals.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.