Conspirator

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /kənˈspɪɹətə/

Definitions

1. A person who secretly collaborates with others to design a plan aimed at achieving an illicit goal or outcome
2. An individual who takes part in a secret plan to commit an illegal act
3. Someone involved in plotting a covert scheme that breaks the law

Etymology: Conspirators have always been people who breathe together, at least by origin. The word comes from the Latin "conspirare," meaning to breathe together or agree, built from "com-" (together) and "spirare" (to breathe). Its earliest English form passed through Anglo-Norman French as "conspiratour," and it reached Middle English in that spelling before settling into the form used today. The root "conspire" carried the same sense of agreement long before it took on the sense of plotting. The idea of several people being of one mind, or sharing a common breath, is the seed from which the modern meaning of secret scheming grew. The suffix "-or" marks the person who performs the action, so a conspirator is literally one who conspires.

Synonyms: collaborator, plotter, schemer, accomplice

Antonyms: honest person