Sedition

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /səˈdɪʃən/

Definitions

1. incitement to rebellion or resistance against an established government or authority
2. language or behavior designed to provoke citizens toward defiance of legitimate political power or insurrection
3. The act of encouraging or promoting rebellion against the ruling government or authority

Etymology: The Latin "sēditiō" literally meant a "going apart," built from "sēd-," a form of "sē-" meaning "apart," and "itiō," from the verb "īre," "to go." Its earliest sense was a physical separation or secession, a group splitting off from the rest, and only gradually did it come to mean discord and rebellion within a community. A splitting-apart image sits at the heart of the word: a faction that breaks away from the body politic. The word reached English through Old French "sedicion," which carried the same sense of popular discord against authority. English borrowed it in the Middle Ages, and it kept the political edge that Roman writers had already given it, so that the sense of stirring people against those in power was present from the start.

Synonyms: insurrection, rebellion, treason, subversion, disobedience

Antonyms: loyalty, obedience, compliance, submission, allegiance