Etymology
Advertisement

felonious (adj.)

mid-15c., "wicked, criminal" (implied in feloniously), from felony + -ous. Replaced felonous (mid-14c.) by c. 1600. Felonly (c. 1300) was another variation.

Entries linking to felonious

felony (n.)
c. 1300, "treachery, betrayal; deceit; villainy, wickedness, sin, crime; violent temper, wrath; ruthlessness; evil intention," from Old French felonie (12c.) "wickedness, evil, treachery, perfidy, crime, cruelty, sin," from Gallo-Roman *fellonia, from fellonem "evil-doer" (see felon).

As a class of crime in common law, also from c. 1300, from Anglo-French. The exact definition changed over time and place, and even the distinction from misdemeanor or trespass is not always observed. In old use often a crime involving forfeiture of lands, goods, or a fee or a crime punishable by death. Variously used in the U.S.; often the sense is "crime punishable by death or imprisonment in a state penitentiary."
-ous 
word-forming element making adjectives from nouns, meaning "having, full of, having to do with, doing, inclined to," from Old French -ous, -eux, from Latin -osus (compare -ose (1)). In chemistry, "having a lower valence than forms expressed in -ic."

updated on October 24, 2014

Advertisement
Advertisement
Definitions of felonious from WordNet

felonious (adj.)
involving or being or having the nature of a crime;
felonious intent
Synonyms: criminal
From wordnet.princeton.edu, not affiliated with etymonline.

Dictionary entries near felonious

fellow

fellow-feeling

fellowship

felo-de-se

felon

felonious

felony

felsic

felt

fem

fem.

© 2001-2022 Douglas Harper