sedition

noun

se·​di·​tion si-ˈdi-shən How to pronounce sedition (audio)
: incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority

Examples of sedition in a Sentence

The leaders of the group have been arrested and charged with sedition.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Lai, 76, the founder of the defunct pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of sedition and collusion with foreign forces in a landmark national security trial that is widely seen as a test of Hong Kong’s press freedom and judicial independence. Jennifer Jett, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2024 The verdict was postponed several times for reasons including a wait for an appeal outcome in another landmark sedition case. Kanis Leung, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2024 Megalopolis posits a world of clueless liberal self-satisfaction, missing every point of contemporary alertness to ongoing lawfare and sedition. Armond White, National Review, 4 Oct. 2024 Former Stand News editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam are the first journalists convicted under a colonial-era sedition law since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Kanis Leung, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for sedition 

Word History

Etymology

Middle English sedicioun, from Anglo-French sediciun, from Latin sedition-, seditio, literally, separation, from sed-, se- apart + ition-, itio act of going, from ire to go — more at secede, issue entry 1

First Known Use

1838, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of sedition was in 1838

Dictionary Entries Near sedition

Cite this Entry

“Sedition.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sedition. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

sedition

noun
se·​di·​tion si-ˈdish-ən How to pronounce sedition (audio)
: the stirring up of feelings against lawful authority

Legal Definition

sedition

noun
se·​di·​tion si-ˈdi-shən How to pronounce sedition (audio)
: the crime of creating a revolt, disturbance, or violence against lawful civil authority with the intent to cause its overthrow or destruction compare criminal syndicalism, sabotage
seditious adjective
seditiously adverb
Etymology

Latin seditio, literally, separation, from sed apart + itio act of going, from ire to go

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