Colluder

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An individual who engages in secret cooperation with others for deceitful or illegal aims is described as a conspiratorial participant
2. A person involved in a hidden agreement with others to pursue dishonest goals is referred to as a conspirator
3. A person who secretly collaborates with others to achieve fraudulent objectives is known as a conspiratorial collaborator

Etymology: "Colluder" is a plain formation: the verb "collude" with the agent suffix "-er" attached, giving a person who colludes. The verb itself comes from Latin "colludere," meaning "to play together" or "to act in concert," built from "com-" (together) and "ludere" (to play). That original sense of playing alongside someone is still visible in the modern meaning, which is secret cooperation toward a dishonest end. The suffix does most of the work here. English has long attached "-er" to verbs to name the doer of an action, as in "writer" or "teacher," so "colluder" follows a pattern that was already familiar to speakers when it was formed. The result is a word that needed no special invention, only a direct label for someone who takes part in a collusion.