Other forms: felonies
A felony is a serious crime carrying a heavy punishment. Convicted of a felony, a felony charge, a felony conviction.
The word belongs to American law, where crimes are divided into felonies and misdemeanours and the distinction affects sentencing, voting rights and employment for life. England and Wales abolished the felony and misdemeanour division in 1967 and now speak of indictable and summary offences. So felony in British use is almost always either historical or borrowed from American television. Note felon, the person, and felonious.
1nounfelonyA serious crime carrying a heavy punishment.
“A felony conviction follows somebody for the rest of their life.”
felony is a serious crime.
Old French felonie meant wickedness, from felon, a wicked person — of uncertain origin, possibly from a Latin word for somebody who deceives. In feudal law a felony was a breach of the bond between lord and vassal, which is where the legal weight comes from.
Old French
felonie — evil, immoral deed
Middle English
felony
English, today
felony
Built from
From Middle English felony, felonie, from Old French felonie (“evil, immoral deed”), from felon (“evildoer”). Ultimately of Proto-Germanic - origin. More at felon. by surface analysis, felon + -y.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA