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 The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “wile”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)
Etymology
From Middle English wile, wyle, from Lua error in Module:parameters at line 291: Parameter 2 should be a valid language, etymology language or family code; the value "ONF." is not valid. See WT:LOL, WT:LOL/E and WT:LOF. 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.
Pronunciation
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.
- Milton
- to frustrate all our plots and wiles
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
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Verb
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- To entice or lure
- Archaic form of while (“to pass the time”)
- Here's a pleasant way to wile away the hours.
Derived terms
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". It is also seen in whilend, "temporary, transitory". But since wile away occurs so often, it is now included in many dictionaries.
References
- Grammarist.com While away or wile away?
- Common Errors in the English Language Wile Away, While Away
Anagrams
Mapudungun
Noun
wile (using Raguileo Alphabet)
Synonyms
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”).
Noun
wile
Derived terms
Descendants
- English: wile
Polish
Pronunciation
Noun
wile m
Noun
wile f
Further reading
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/aɪl
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English archaic forms
- Mapudungun lemmas
- Mapudungun nouns
- arn:Time
- Middle English terms derived from Old English
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Polish 2-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Polish non-lemma forms
- Polish noun forms