deceit

English

Alternative forms

• deceipt (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English deceyte, from Old French deceite, deçoite, from decevoir (“to deceive”), from Latin dēcipere (“to cheat, mislead”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈsiːt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːt

Noun

deceit (plural deceits)

1. An act or practice intended to deceive; a trick.

   The whole conversation was merely a deceit.

2. An act of deceiving someone.
   • 1998, Mike Dixon-Kennedy, Encyclopedia of Greco-Roman Mythology, page 125:

     Upon his return he killed Eriphyle for her vanity and deceit of him and his father.

3. (uncountable) The state of being deceitful or deceptive.
   • 1603 (date written), [Francis] Bacon, “Valerius Terminus: Of the Interpretation of Nature; with the Annotations of Hermes Stella. Chapter XI. The Chapter Immediately Following the Inventary; Being the 11th in Order, a Part thereof.”, in Robert Stephens, compiler, edited by [John Lockyer], Letters and Remains of the Lord Chancellor Bacon, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, published 1734, →OCLC, page 411:

     [T]he tvvo commended rules by him [Aristotle] ſet down, vvhereby the axioms of Sciences are precepted to be made convertible, and vvhich the latter men have not vvithout elegancy ſurnamed; the one the rule of truth, becauſe it preventeth deceipt; the other the rule of prudence, becauſe it freeth election, are the ſame thing in ſpeculation and affirmation, vvhich vve novv obſerve.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 10:7:

     His mouth is full of curſing, and deceit, and fraud : vnder his tongue is miſchiefe and vanitie.

4. (law) The tort or fraudulent representation of a material fact made with knowledge of its falsity, or recklessly, or without reasonable grounds for believing its truth and with intent to induce reliance on it; the plaintiff justifiably relies on the deception, to his injury.

Synonyms

• (act or behavior intended to deceive): trick, fraud
• (act of deceiving): deception, trickery
• (state of being deceptive): underhandedness, deceptiveness, deceitfulness, dissimulation, fraudulence, trickery
• See also Thesaurus:deception

Derived terms

• deceited
• deceitful
• self-deceit

 

Translations

act or behavior intended to deceive

• Albanian: mashtrim (sq) m
• Arabic: خِدَاع m (ḵidāʕ), خَدْع m (ḵadʕ)
• Armenian: խաբեբայություն (hy) (xabebayutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: hiylə (az), aldatma
• Basque: iruzur
• Belarusian: падма́н m (padmán)
• Bengali: প্রবঞ্চনা (bn) (proboncona)
• Bulgarian: изма́ма (bg) f (izmáma), лъжа́ (bg) f (lǎžá)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 欺騙／欺骗 (zh) (qīpiàn)

• Czech: podvod (cs) m
• Dutch: bedrog (nl) n, bedriegerij (nl) f
• Esperanto: mistifiko
• Estonian: pettus
• Faroese: svik n
• Finnish: petosyritys, petoksen yritys, petos (fi), huiputus (fi), huijaus (fi), harhautus (fi), vilppi (fi)
• French: tromperie (fr) f, ruse (fr) f
• Galician: engano (gl) m
• German: Betrügerei (de) f, Betrug (de) m
• Gothic: 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍄𐌴𐌹 f (liutei)
• Greek: απάτη (el) f (apáti)

  Ancient: ἀπάτη f (apátē), δόλωμα n (dólōma)

• Gujarati: please add this translation if you can
• Hebrew: רַמָּאוּת f (ramaút)
• Hindi: धोखा (hi) m (dhokhā), छल (hi) m (chal)
• Hungarian: megtévesztés (hu)
• Irish: meang f
• Italian: falsità (it) f, mendacità f, inganno (it) m, trucco (it) m
• Japanese: 詐欺 (ja) (sagi)
• Kabuverdianu: fantuxada
• Kazakh: алдау (aldau)
• Khmer: ការបោកប្រាស់ (kaa baok prah)
• Korean: 속임수 (ko) (sogimsu), 사기 (ko) (sagi), 속임 (sogim)
• Kyrgyz: алдоо (ky) (aldoo)
• Latin: fraus (la) f, dolus m
• Latvian: maldināšana f
• Lithuanian: apgavystė f
• Macedonian: измама f (izmama)
• Malay: penipuan
• Middle English: ymagynynge
• Odia: ତଞ୍ଚକତା (or) (tôñcôkôta)
• Ossetian: фӕлывд (fælyvd)
• Persian: فریب (fa) (farib), گول (fa) (gul)
• Polish: oszustwo (pl) n, podstęp (pl) m
• Portuguese: velhacaria (pt) f, fraude (pt) f
• Romanian: decepție (ro) f
• Russian: обма́н (ru) m (obmán)
• Sanskrit: कपट (sa) m or n (kapaṭa)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̏бмана f, пре̏вара f, прије̑вара f

  Roman: ȍbmana (sh) f, prȅvara (sh) f, prijȇvara (sh) f

• Slovak: podvod m
• Slovene: prevara (sl) f
• Spanish: bellaquería (es) f, fraude (es) m, engaño (es) m, embeleco (es)
• Swedish: bedrägeri (sv) c
• Tajik: фиреб (tg) (fireb)
• Tatar: алдау (aldaw), алдак (tt) (aldaq)
• Telugu: దగా (te) (dagā), మోసము (te) (mōsamu)
• Thai: การหลอกลวง (th)
• Turkish: hile (tr), aldatma (tr), kandırma (tr)
• Turkmen: aldaw (tk)
• Ukrainian: обма́н m (obmán)
• Urdu: دھوکا m (dhokhā), فریب (farīb)
• Uyghur: ئالداش (aldash)
• Uzbek: aldash, firib (uz)

act or fact of deceiving

• Finnish: huijaus (fi)
• French: tromperie (fr) f
• German: Täuschung (de) f
• Greek: απάτη (el) f (apáti)

  Ancient: ἀπάτη f (apátē)

• Hungarian: megtévesztés (hu)
• Irish: meang f
• Korean: 속임수 (ko) (sogimsu)
• Portuguese: logro (pt) m
• Romanian: înșelătorie (ro) f, înșelăciune (ro) f
• Russian: обма́н (ru) m (obmán)
• Spanish: fraude (es) m, engaño (es) m
• Swedish: bedrägeri (sv) c
• Telugu: మోసగించుట (mōsagiñcuṭa)

state of being deceptive

• Finnish: vilpillisyys
• German: Falschheit (de) f
• Greek: απάτη (el) f (apáti)
• Hungarian: megtévesztő (hu)
• Japanese: 欺瞞 (ja) (giman)
• Kabuverdianu: fantuxada
• Korean: 기만 (ko) (giman)
• Russian: обма́нчивость (ru) f (obmánčivostʹ), лжи́вость (ru) f (lžívostʹ)
• Swedish: bedräglighet (sv) n

legal: fraudulent representation of a material fact

• Finnish: petos (fi)
• French: fraude (fr) f
• German: Betrug (de)
• Italian: malafede (it)
• Romanian: fraudă (ro) f
• Russian: обма́н (ru) m (obmán)
• Spanish: fraude (es) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} tromperie (fr)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} inganno (it), ^{(please verify)} frode (it)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} engaño (es)