ˈfelənē, -ni noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English felonie, from Old French, treachery, ill will, misdeed, from felon villain, rogue
1. : an act on the part of a vassal involving the forfeiture of his fee or an act of a lord involving the forfeiture of his lordship in feudal law
2. : a grave crime (as murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, larceny, burglary, mayhem, arson, rescue of a felon, some types of prison breach, some offenses for which benefit of clergy was abolished, and sometimes treason) declared expressly as distinguished from a misdemeanor in English common law and resulting in outlawry if the offender fled and until the Forfeiture Act of 1870 resulting upon conviction in the offender's loss of his goods or lands or both and sometimes in punishment by loss of a member, whipping, death, or long imprisonment
3.
a. : one of several grave crimes that are distinguished from treason or minor misdemeanors, that are expressly declared to be such by the common law or judicial decisions or statutes of a state that follows the English common law, and that sometimes include sodomy and offenses deemed serious in more modern times (as kidnapping or wilful evasion of income taxes)
b. : a crime declared a felony by statute because it may be punished by death or by imprisonment in a penitentiary or state prison regardless of the punishment actually imposed
c. : a crime declared to be a felony by statute because of the punishment actually imposed (as death or imprisonment for the length of time prescribed by the statute)
d. : any crime for which the punishment in federal law may be death or imprisonment for more than one year