wile

See also Wile

English

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

Etymology

From Middle English wile, wyle, from Old English wīl (“wile, trick”) and wiġle (“divination”), from Proto-Germanic *wīlan (“craft, deceit”) (from Proto-Indo-European *wei- (“to turn, bend”)) and Proto-Germanic *wigulan, *wihulan (“prophecy”) (from Proto-Indo-European *weik- (“to consecrate, hallow, make holy”)). Cognate with Icelandic vél, væl (“artifice, craft, device, fraud, trick”).

Noun

wile (plural wiles)

1. (usually in the plural) A trick or stratagem practiced for ensnaring or deception; a sly, insidious artifice

   He was seduced by her wiles.

Synonyms

• beguilement
• allurement

Related terms

• guile
• wily

Translations

trick or stratagem

• Finnish: kikka (fi)
• French: ruse (fr) f, leurre (fr) m
• Greek: πονηριά f, τέχνασμα n,

• Japanese: 策略 (ja) (さくりゃく, sakuryaku)
• Latin: sūtēla (la) f
• Maori: rauhanga (mi)

Verb

wile (third-person singular simple present wiles, present participle wiling, simple past and past participle wiled)

1. To entice or lure
2. Alternative spelling of while, "to pass the time".

   Here's a pleasant way to wile away the hours.

Usage notes

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. We also see it in the whilend — temporary, transitory. But since wile away happens so often, it is now included in many dictionaries. As can be seen above, wile is a noun—meaning (1) trickery, deception or (2) a disarming or seductive manner — and as a verb meaning to entice or lure. None of these meanings has anything to do with idly passing time, so wile away doesn’t make logical sense.

References

• Grammarist.com While away or wile away?
• Common Errors in the English Language Wile Away, While Away

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Mapudungun

Noun

wile (using Raguileo Alphabet)

1. tomorrow

Synonyms

• ule
• wvle

References

• Wixaleyiñ: Mapucezugun-wigkazugun pici hemvlcijka (Wixaleyiñ: Small Mapudungun-Spanish dictionary), Beretta, Marta; Cañumil, Dario; Cañumil, Tulio, 2008.

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Middle English

Etymology

From Old English wīl, wiġle (“wile, trick”), cognate with Old Norse vél (“artifice, craft”).

Noun

wile

1. wile, trick, artifice
2. a sorcerer

Derived terms

• wili

Descendants

• English: wile