espionage
[es-pee-uh-nahzh, -nij, es-pee-uh-nahzh]
- the act or practice of spying.
- the use of spies by a government to discover the military and political secrets of other nations.
- the use of spies by a corporation or the like to acquire the plans, technical knowledge, etc., of a competitor: industrial espionage.
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Origin of espionage
1785–95; < French espionnage, Middle French espionage, equivalent to espionn(er) to spy (derivative of espion spy < Italian spione < Germanic; akin to German spähen to look out) + -age -age
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for espionage
Contemporary Examples
That is why I visited my relatives in Iran in 2011, when I was unjustly arrested and charged with espionage.
In 2011, he was arrested while visiting his grandmother in Iran, charged with espionage, and sentenced to death.
The crime-fighting penguins, says the trailer, are “masters of the skies, espionage, and aerial assault.”
Lovable ‘Madagascar’ Penguins Are Known to Rape and Torture in Real LifeAsawin Suebsaeng
November 26, 2014
Whatever skills it takes to succeed in espionage or racketeering, I patently lack.
Vaccines Are Poison, Cellphones Cause Cancer, and Other Medical ConspiraciesRussell Saunders
July 18, 2014
This official declined to discuss the details of the current espionage case that is roiling the German government today.
Historical Examples
Plato does not seem to be aware that espionage can only have a negative effect.
LawsPlato
I am neither ashamed of the 'espionage,' nor should I be averse to the marriage.
Sir Jasper CarewCharles James Lever
The world was at peace, and there was no incentive to espionage as there had been in pre-war days.
The Doctor of PimlicoWilliam Le Queux
I will not, as now, be watched and suspected, and be under a state of espionage!
The HomeFredrika Bremer
It is "a system of espionage" that prevails under every form of government.
White LiesCharles Reade
espionage
- the systematic use of spies to obtain secret information, esp by governments to discover military or political secrets
- the act or practice of spying
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Word Origin
C18: from French espionnage, from espionner to spy, from espion spy, from Old Italian spione, of Germanic origin; compare German spähen to spy
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for espionage
n.
1793, from French espionnage "spying," from Middle French espionner "to spy," from Old French espion "spy," probably via Italian spione from a Germanic source akin to Old High German spehon "spy" (see spy).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper