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guile

/ɡaɪl/ noun

In Latin: dolus Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about guile at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. Shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception.
  2. The quality of being crafty.
  3. The use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them).

Origin

From Middle English gile, from Anglo-Norman gile, from Old French guile (“deception”), from Frankish *wīl (“ruse”), from Proto-Germanic *wīlą, from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, bend”). Cognate via Proto-Germanic with wile.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)