[Ads-l] "double agent" = "[single] agent" ?

[Charles C Doyle]

Two nights ago, the usually articulate and precise Rachel Maddow several times referred to Russians accused or convicted of espionage on behalf of Britain or the US, and expelled or executed, as "double agents."

But aren't they simply "agents"?

I've always understood a double agent to be an individual who pretends to be spying on country X for the benefit of country Y but is actually betraying country Y to country X --like the character Dominika in Jason Matthew's terrific espionage novel _Red Sparrow_ (don't bother with the movie!). That is, a spy who has been found out and "turned."

OED's definition of "double agent" I find confusing: "a spy who works on behalf of mutually hostile countries, usually with actual allegiance only to one."

--Charlie



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