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treaty

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treaty

  • /ˈtɹiːti/ UK
  • /ˈtɹiti/ US
  • /-ɾi/ US
  • /ˈtɹiːti/ Ireland
  • /ˈtɹiːəti/ Ireland

Rhymes with -iːti

Where it comes from

The noun is derived from Middle English trete, trety (“bargaining, negotiation; discussion; conference, meeting; entreaty, persuasion; agreement, contract, covenant; arrangement, settlement; agreement between two rulers, states, etc.; written work on a particular subject, treatise; subdivision of a written work, section”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman treté, traité, treaté, and Old French traité, traitié [and other forms] (modern French traité (“agreement between two rulers, states, etc.; treatise”)); traité or traitié is:

* a noun use of the past participle of traiter (“to treat; to deal with, handle”), from Latin tractāre, the present active infinitive of tractō (“to drag, haul, tug; to handle, manage; to debate, discuss; to exercise, practise; to perform, transact”), from trahō (“to drag, pull”) + -tō (frequentative suffix); and

* also from Latin tractātum (“written work on a particular subject, treatise”), from Latin tractātus (“dragged, hauled, tugged; handled, managed; exercised, practised; performed, transacted”), the perfect passive participle of tractō (see above).

The verb is derived from the noun.

noun treaties

  1. countable A formal binding agreement concluded by subjects of international law, namely, states and international organizations; a convention, a pact. to sign a peace treaty
  2. archaic, uncountable Chiefly in in treaty: discussions or negotiations in order to reach an agreement. To a meeting of the executors of late Viscˢˢᵉ Mordaunt's estate, to consider of the sale of Parsons Greene; being in treaty with Mr. Loftus, and to settle the halfe yeare's account.
  3. archaic, countable Chiefly in private treaty: an agreement or settlement reached following negotiations; a compact, a contract, a covenant.
  4. obsolete, uncountable The manner or process of treating someone or something; treatment; also, the manner in which someone or something acts or behaves; behaviour. Hoſ[t]. They call me Good-ſtock. / Lov[el]. Sir, and you confeſſe it, / Both i'your language, treaty, and your bearing.
  5. obsolete, uncountable The addressing or consideration of a subject; discussion, treatment.
  6. countable, obsolete A formal, systematic discourse on some subject; a treatise. And though Galen doth ſometime nibble at Moſes, and beſide the Apoſtate Chriſtian, ſome Heathens have queſtioned his Philoſophicall part or treaty of the Creation: Yet is there ſurely no reaſonable Pagan, that will not admire the rationall and well grounded precepts of Chriſt; […]
  7. countable, obsolete An act of beseeching or entreating; an entreaty, a plea, a request. Now I must / To the young man ſend humble Treaties, dodge / And palter in the ſhifts of lovvnes, vvho / VVith halfe the bulke o' th' vvorld plaid as I pleas'd, / Making, and marring Fortunes.

verb treaties · treatying · treatied

  1. transitive To get into (a specific situation) through a treaty.
  2. intransitive To enter into a treaty.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: pact, accord, statute, constitution, contract, agreement, contractual, compact, covenant, dealing, dealings, convention, alliance, negotiation, treat, signatory

Translations

Every language

noun formal binding agreement concluded by subjects of international law

Españoltratado
한국어조약 joyak, 협정 hyeopjeong, 협약 hyeobyak
日本語条約 jōyaku, 協定 kyōtei
中文條約 /条约 tiáoyuē, 協議 /协议 xiéyì, 協定 /协定 xiédìng
हिन्दीसन्धि sandhi
Portuguêstratado, acordo
Françaistraité
DeutschVertrag, Bündnis
Italianotrattato
Ελληνικάσυνθήκη synthíki
Românătratat
Русскийдогово́р dogovór, до́говор dógovor, соглаше́ние soglašénije, пакт pakt, тракта́т traktát
Tiếng Việtđiều ước, hiệp ước
العربيةمُعَاهَدَة muʕāhada, مُقَاوَلَة muqāwala, مُشَارَطَة mušāraṭa
עבריתאֲמָנָה amaná

noun discussions or negotiations in order to reach an agreement

Italianotrattativa

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Cite this
MLA

"treaty." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/treaty. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

treaty. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/treaty

Chicago

"treaty." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/treaty.

BibTeX
@misc{treaty_2026,
  title = {treaty},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/treaty},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}