noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ˈɛs.pi.əˌnɑːʒ/
ĕsʹ-pē-ə-näzh
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Canada:-năzh
Canada:-nizh
CMU ARPABET:EH1 S P IY0 AH0 N AA0 JH
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The act or process of learning secret information through clandestine means.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
the systematic use of spies to get military or political secrets
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: spying, undercover work
History
Etymology
Recorded since 1793, from French espionnage, from espionner (“to spy”), from Middle French espionner (“to spy”), from espion (“spy”), from Old French espion (“spy”), from Frankish *spehō (“spy”), from Frankish *spehōn (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to spy, peek, peer”). In modern times, the French pronunciation of the s, which had fallen silent since the 13th century, was restored due to the influence of Italian spione (“spy”), and was therefore also adopted by the English. More at spy.
Across languages
Translations
96 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Abkhaz:
аԥшы́хәра
(apŝə́xwra)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Abkhaz:
ашпио́наж
(aŝpʼjónaẑ)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Afrikaans:
spioenasie
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Albanian:
spiunazh
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Amharic:
ስለላ
(səläla)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Arabic:
تَجَسُّس
(tajassus)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Arabic:
جَاسُوسِيَّة
(jāsūsiyya)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Armenian:
լրտեսություն
(lrtesutʻyun)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Azerbaijani:
casusluq
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Basque:
espioitza
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Belarusian:
шпіяна́ж
(špijanáž)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Bengali:
গুপ্তচরবৃত্তি
(guptocrobritti)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Bulgarian:
шпиона́ж
(špionáž)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Catalan:
espionatge
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Chinese Cantonese:
間諜活動 /间谍活动
(gaan3 dip6 wut6 dung6)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Chinese Mandarin:
間諜活動 /间谍活动
(jiàndié huódòng)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Ngazidja Comorian:
udjasusi
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Czech:
špionáž
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Danish:
spionage
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Dutch:
spionage
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Esperanto:
spionado
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Estonian:
spionaaž
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Finnish:
vakoilu
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
French:
espionnage
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Galician:
espionaxe
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Georgian:
შპიონაჟი
(šṗionaži)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Georgian:
აგენტურა
(agenṭura)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
German:
Spionage
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Greek:
κατασκοπία
(kataskopía)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Greek:
κατασκοπεία
(kataskopeía)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Hebrew:
ריגול
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Hebrew:
רִגּוּל
(rigúl)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Hindi:
गुप्तचर्या
(guptacaryā)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Hindi:
जासूसी
(jāsūsī)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Hindi:
चारवृत्ति
(cārvŕtti)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Hungarian:
kémkedés
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Icelandic:
njósnir
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Icelandic:
njósn
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Indonesian:
spionase
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Indonesian:
pengintaian
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Italian:
spionaggio
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Japanese:
スパイ行為
(supai kōi)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Japanese:
スパイ罪
(supaizai)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Japanese:
間諜罪
(kanchōzai)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Kazakh:
тыңшылық
(tyñşylyq)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Khmer:
ចារកម្ម
(caarĕəʼ kam)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Korean:
스파이 행위
(seupai haeng'wi)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Korean:
간첩죄
(gancheopjoe)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Northern Kurdish:
cesûsî
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Northern Kurdish:
sîxurî
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Northern Kurdish:
xefnêrî
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Kyrgyz:
шпионаж
(şpionaj)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Kyrgyz:
тыңчылык
(tıŋcılık)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Lao:
ຈາຣະກັມ
(chā ra kam)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Latvian:
spiegošana
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Lithuanian:
žvalgyba
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Macedonian:
шпиона́жа
(špionáža)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Malay:
pengintipan
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Māori:
mahi tūtei
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Māori:
tūteitanga
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Mongolian:
тагнуул
(tagnuul)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Norwegian Bokmål:
spionasje
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Norwegian Nynorsk:
spionasje
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Pashto:
جاسوسي
(jāsūsī)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Dari:
جَاسُوسِی
(jāsūsī)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Iranian Persian:
جاسوسی
(jâsusi)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Polish:
szpiegostwo
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Polish:
wywiad
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Portuguese:
espionagem
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Romanian:
spionaj
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Russian:
шпиона́ж
(špionáž)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Serbo-Croatian:
шпијуна́жа
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Serbo-Croatian:
špijunáža
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Slovak:
špionáž
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Slovene:
vohunstvo
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Spanish:
espionaje
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Swedish:
spioneri
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Swedish:
spionage
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Tabasaran:
жасусвал
(žasusval)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Tagalog:
pagbatyaw
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Tagalog:
espiyonahe
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Tajik:
ҷосусӣ
(josusi)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Telugu:
వేగు
(vēgu)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Thai:
จารกรรม
(jaa-rá-gam)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Tibetan:
ཉུལ་ཞིབ་པ
(nyul zhib pa)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Turkish:
espiyonaj
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Turkish:
casusluk
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Ukrainian:
шпигу́нство
(špyhúnstvo)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Ukrainian:
шпіона́ж
(špionáž)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Urdu:
جاسُوسی
(jāsūsī)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Uyghur:
جاسۇسلۇق
(jasusluq)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Uzbek:
josuslik
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Uzbek:
shpionlik
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Vietnamese:
hoạt động tình báo
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Yakut:
үспүйүөннээһин
(üspüyüönneehin)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
Yiddish:
שפּיאָנאַזש
(shpyonazh)
— act of learning secret information through clandestine means
