wile
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /waɪl/
- Rhymes: -aɪl
- Homophone: while
Etymology 1
From Middle English wile, wyle, from Old Northern French wile (“guile”) and Old English wīl (“wile, trick”) and wiġle (“divination”), from Proto-Germanic *wīlą (“craft, deceit”) (from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, bend”)) and Proto-Germanic *wigulą, *wihulą (“prophecy”) (from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to consecrate, hallow, make holy”)). Cognate with Icelandic vél, væl (“artifice, craft, device, fraud, trick”), Dutch wijle.
Noun
wile (plural wiles)
- (usually in the plural) A trick or stratagem practiced for ensnaring or deception; a sly, insidious artifice
- He was seduced by her wiles.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- to frustrate all our plots and wiles
- 1796, George Washington, "Farewell Address", American Daily Advertiser:
- Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove, that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government.
Synonyms
- beguilement
- allurement
Derived terms
- wileful
- wily
Related terms
- guile
Translations
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Verb
wile (third-person singular simple present wiles, present participle wiling, simple past and past participle wiled)
- (transitive) To entice or lure.
- 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
- He was good to look on, brawly dressed, and with a tongue in his head that would have wiled the bird from the tree.
- 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
Derived terms
- bewile
- outwile
Etymology 2
The phrase meaning to pass time idly is while away. We can trace the meaning in an adjectival sense for while back to Old English, hwīlen, "passing, transitory". It is also seen in whilend, "temporary, transitory". But since wile away occurs so often, it is now included in many dictionaries.
Verb
wile
- Misspelling of while (“to pass the time”).
- Here's a pleasant way to wile away the hours.
- 1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy’s Progress. […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Richard Bentley, […], OCLC 558204586:
- “A fear of what?” asked the gentleman, who seemed to pity her.
“I scarcely know of what,” replied the girl. “I wish I did. Horrible thoughts of death, and shrouds with blood upon them, and a fear that has made me burn as if I was on fire, have been upon me all day. I was reading a book to-night, to wile the time away, and the same things came into the print.”
References
- Grammarist.com While away or wile away?
- Common Errors in the English Language Wile Away, While Away
Anagrams
- Lewi, Liew, Weil, lwei
Mapudungun
Noun
wile (Raguileo spelling)
- tomorrow
Synonyms
- ule
- wvle
References
- Wixaleyiñ: Mapucezugun-wigkazugun pici hemvlcijka (Wixaleyiñ: Small Mapudungun-Spanish dictionary), Beretta, Marta; Cañumil, Dario; Cañumil, Tulio, 2008.
Middle English
Etymology
From Old English wīl, wiġle (“wile, trick”), cognate with Old Norse vél (“artifice, craft”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈwiːl(ə)/
Noun
wile
- wile, trick, artifice
- a sorcerer
Derived terms
- wili
Descendants
- English: wile
Polish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈvi.lɛ/
- Rhymes: -ilɛ
- Syllabification: wi‧le
Noun
wile m
- locative/vocative singular of wił
Noun
wile f
- dative/locative singular of wiła
Further reading
- wile in Polish dictionaries at PWN