Felony
Etymology
From Old French “felonie” (wickedness, treachery), from “felon” (an evil-doer or traitor). The deeper origin is disputed — often traced to Medieval Latin “fello,” of uncertain and much-argued source. The word carried a flavor of moral betrayal long before it hardened into a legal category.
noun · /FEL-uh-nee/
A serious crime, typically punishable by more than a year in prison.
What it names
The heavy end of the crime scale — reach for it to mark offenses grave enough to follow someone for life through voting, employment, and housing.
Example
What began as a misdemeanor shoplifting charge was elevated to a felony once the stolen goods crossed a dollar threshold.
Related idea
The line people most often blur: a felony is the serious tier (prison, lasting civil consequences), while a misdemeanor is the lesser tier, usually capped at a year in local jail.