espionage

[es-pee-uh-nahzh, -nij, es-pee-uh-nahzh]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR espionage ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

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

Related formsnon·es·pi·o·nage, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for espionage

intelligence, reconnaissance, shadowing, tailing

Examples from the Web for espionage

Contemporary Examples of espionage

That is why I visited my relatives in Iran in 2011, when I was unjustly arrested and charged with espionage.
An American Marine in Iran’s Prisons Goes on Hunger Strike
IranWire
December 18, 2014
In 2011, he was arrested while visiting his grandmother in Iran, charged with espionage, and sentenced to death.
An American Marine in Iran’s Prisons Goes on Hunger Strike
IranWire
December 18, 2014
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 Life
Asawin 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 Conspiracies
Russell Saunders
July 18, 2014
This official declined to discuss the details of the current espionage case that is roiling the German government today.
One Big Reason The CIA Spied on Germany: Worries About Russian Moles in Berlin
Eli Lake
July 12, 2014

Historical Examples of espionage

Plato does not seem to be aware that espionage can only have a negative effect.
Laws
Plato
I am neither ashamed of the 'espionage,' nor should I be averse to the marriage.
Sir Jasper Carew
Charles 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 Pimlico
William Le Queux
I will not, as now, be watched and suspected, and be under a state of espionage!
The Home
Fredrika Bremer
It is "a system of espionage" that prevails under every form of government.
White Lies
Charles Reade

British Dictionary definitions for espionage

espionage

noun

the systematic use of spies to obtain secret information, esp by governments to discover military or political secrets

the act or practice of spying

Word Origin for espionage

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for espionage

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).