Traditores

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Of or relating to a group of individuals who betray trust or loyalty
2. Referring to those who are disloyal, particularly in a political or religious context
3. Pertaining to persons who act treacherously against an established authority or principle

Etymology: "Traditores" is the plural of "traditor," the Latin word for a betrayer, built from "trādere," meaning "to hand over." That literal sense of handing something over is the key to the whole family: a traitor was, at root, someone who handed another person or a secret across to an enemy. English gets the same Latin stem through two routes, which makes "traditor" and "traitor" doublets, the same word arriving twice by different paths. The Latin form was used in the Church, where "traditores" referred to Christians who had handed over sacred scriptures and vessels to Roman authorities during persecutions. Their betrayal was a matter of surrendering holy objects, not a personal act of treachery, and the term carried that specific ecclesiastical charge. In the Church sense, the plural names a group rather than an individual, which is why the word suits a collective body of betrayers. The English form is rare and mostly confined to historical and theological writing.