An archaic or variant spelling of 'felonious,' meaning criminal, treacherous, or involving serious wrongdoing.
Variant form of 'felonious' from Old French 'felon' (wicked). Medieval English used multiple spellings interchangeably before standardization.
Finding 'felonous' in old texts shows how spelling was fluid—medieval scribes spelled the same word multiple ways on the same page, yet lawyers still understood the legal meaning perfectly.
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