beguile
English
Alternative forms
- begyle [from the Middle English period through the 16th century]
Etymology
From Middle English begilen, begylen; equivalent to be- + guile. Compare Middle Dutch begilen (“to beguile”). Doublet of bewile.
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -aɪl
- IPA(key): /bɪˈɡaɪl/
Audio (UK) (file)
Verb
beguile (third-person singular simple present beguiles, present participle beguiling, simple past and past participle beguiled)
- (transitive) To deceive or delude (using guile).
- c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene ii], line 102:
- I know, sir, I am no flatterer: he that beguiled you, in a plain accent, was a plain knave.
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- (transitive) To charm, delight or captivate.
- 1864 November 21, Abraham Lincoln (signed) or John Hay, letter to Mrs. Bixby in Boston
- I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming.
- I will never touch The Orb, even though its mysterious glow seduces and beguiles
- 1864 November 21, Abraham Lincoln (signed) or John Hay, letter to Mrs. Bixby in Boston
- (transitive) To cause (time) to seem to pass quickly, by way of pleasant diversion.
- We beguiled the hours away
- 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], OCLC 1042815524, part I, page 213:
- They beguiled the time by backbiting and intriguing against each other in a foolish kind of way.
Related terms
- wile
Translations
to deceive or delude (using guile)
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to charm, delight, or captivate
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References
- beguile in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- beguile in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913