Middle Englishbigilen, beguilen, frombi-, be-be-+gileguileorgilen"to deceive, cheat," borrowed from Old Frenchguiler, derivative ofguile First Known Use 13th century, in the meaning defined attransitive sense 3 Time Traveler The first known use ofbeguilewas in the 13th century ...
It comes from the Middle English word bigilen. It’s based on the word guile, which can mean “cleverness,”“craftiness,” or “deceptiveness.” The prefix be- is used to form verbs and in this case means “to affect completely or excessively” (it’s found in words like bewitch and...
A prime example is beguile, which first appeared in English around the 13th century with the meaning “to lead or draw by deception.” For the next several centuries, most of the senses of the verb had to do, in one manner or another, with deceiving. Around the time of Shakespeare, ...
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English be‧guile/bɪˈɡaɪl/verb[transitive]1to interest andattractsomeoneShe was beguiled by his smooth talk.2topersuadeortricksomeone into doing somethingbeguile somebody into doing somethingHe was beguiled into buying another copy of her book.3litera...
她为人很狡猾,竟诱骗同学为她做这项工作。Did You Know?A number of English words have traveled a rather curious path from meanings related to deception or trickery to something less unwelcome. A prime example is beguile, which first appeared in English around the 13th century with the meaning “...
The original English senses are obsolete; the meaning "divert from serious business, tickle the fancy of" is recorded from 1630s, but through 18c. the primary meaning was "deceive, cheat" by first occupying the attention. "The word was not in reg. use bef. 1600, and was not used by ...
The original English senses are obsolete; the meaning "divert from serious business, tickle the fancy of" is recorded from 1630s, but through 18c. the primary meaning was "deceive, cheat" by first occupying the attention. "The word was not in reg. use bef. 1600, and was not used by ...
The meaning of BEGUILE is hoodwink. How to use beguile in a sentence. Did you know? Synonym Discussion of Beguile.