espionage

Etymology

Recorded since 1793, from French espionnage, from espionner (“to spy”), from Middle French espionner (“to spy”), from espion (“spy”), from Old French espion (“spy”), from Frankish *spehō (“spy”), from Frankish *spehōn (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to spy, peek, peer”). In modern times, the French pronunciation of the s, which had fallen silent since the 13th century, was restored due to the influence of Italian spione (“spy”), and was therefore also adopted by the English. More at spy.

noun

1. The act or process of learning secret information through clandestine means.
   What a freak show! I mean, how often do you meet a wrestling librarian? Yeah, about as often as you meet a high schoolgirl involved in international espionage… Okay, bad example. Jun 20 2003, Joseph Purdy, “Totally Switched”, in Totally Spies!, season 2, episode 19, spoken by Alexandra “Alex” (Andrea Taylor as Clover and Katie Leigh), Marathon Media, via Teletoon