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Webster 1913 Edition


Guile

Guile

,
Noun.
[OE.
guile
,
gile
, OF.
guile
; of German origin, and the same word as E.
wile
. See
Wile
.]
Craft; deceitful cunning; artifice; duplicity; wile; deceit; treachery.
Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no
guile
.
John i. 47.
To wage by force or
guile
eternal war.
Milton.

Guile

,
Verb.
T.
[OF.
guiler
. See
Guile
,
Noun.
]
To disguise or conceal; to deceive or delude.
[Obs.]
Spenser.

Webster 1828 Edition


Guile

GUILE

,
Noun.
gile. Craft; cunning; artifice; duplicity; deceit; usually in a bad sense.
We may, with more successful hope, resolve
To wage by force or guile eternal war.
Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. John.1.

GUILE

,
Verb.
T.
To disguise craftily.

Definition 2024


guile

guile

English

Noun

guile (countable and uncountable, plural guiles)

  1. (uncountable) Astuteness often marked by a certain sense of cunning or artful deception.
    • 2012 April 24, Phil Dawkes, “Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport:
      It was a result that owed a lot to a moment of guile from Ramires but more to a display of guts from the Brazilian and his team-mates after Terry's needless dismissal eight minutes before half-time for driving a knee into the back of Alexis Sanchez off the ball.
    • 2011 November 11, Rory Houston, “Estonia 0-4 Republic of Ireland”, in RTE Sport:
      Estonia were struggling to get to grips with the game while Ireland were showing a composure and guile that demonstrated their experience in play-off ties.
  2. Deceptiveness, deceit, fraud, duplicity, dishonesty.
    • 'The Bible - King James Version: John 1:47
      Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

Translations

Verb

guile (third-person singular simple present guiles, present participle guiling, simple past and past participle guiled)

  1. to deceive, to beguile

Translations

Derived terms

Related terms

References

  1. T.F. Hoad, Concise Dictionary of English Etymology, ISBN 978-0-19-283098-2; headword guile

Old French

Etymology

Frankish, see above

Noun

guile f (oblique plural guiles, nominative singular guile, nominative plural guiles)

  1. trickery; deception

Descendants

References

  • (fr) Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (guile)