subversion

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the deliberate, often covert undermining of an established government, institution, or system

   The officers were accused of subversion after plotting to weaken the elected government.

2. 2
   noun

   the overthrow, destruction, or radical reversal of an established order, principle, or belief

   The ruling threatened the subversion of a legal principle that had stood for centuries.

From Middle English subversion and Old French subversion, ultimately from Latin subversio, an overturning, from subvertere, to turn from below or overthrow. The modern political sense emphasizes covert efforts to weaken an existing order.

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