Etymology

felony

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Today it means: A serious criminal offense, which, under United States federal law, is punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than one year or by the death penalty in the most serious offenses. Full definition →

Middle English felony ← Old French felonie
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The story

  1. Old French · derived fromfelonie“evil, immoral deed”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromfelony
  3. English todayfelony

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 4.0.