Perfidy


[pur-fi-dee] /ˈpɜr fɪ di/

noun, plural perfidies.
1.
deliberate breach of faith or trust; faithlessness; treachery:
perfidy that goes unpunished.
2.
an act or instance of faithlessness or treachery.
/ˈpɜːfɪdɪ/
noun (pl) -dies
1.
a perfidious act
n.

1590s, from Middle French perfidie (16c.), from Latin perfidia “faithlessness, falsehood, treachery,” from perfidus “faithless,” from phrase per fidem decipere “to deceive through trustingness,” from per “through” (see per) + fidem (nominative fides) “faith” (see faith).

[C]ombinations of wickedness would overwhelm the world by the advantage which licentious principles afford, did not those who have long practiced perfidy grow faithless to each other. [Samuel Johnson, “Life of Waller”]

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