▪ I. beguile, v.
(bɪˈgaɪl)
Forms: 3–4 bigile(n, 4 bygille, 4–5 bigyle, bygile, 4–6 begile, 4–7 begyle, 5 bygyle, -ile, 4– beguile.
[f. be- 2 + guile v., cognate with wile. The development of senses 3, 4, 5, is analogous to that of amuse, q.v.]
1. trans. To entangle or over-reach with guile; to delude, deceive, cheat.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 270 Non so wis ne so war..þet nis bigiled oðer hwules. a 1300 Cursor M. 716 And thoght hou he mith man bigile [v.r. bi-will]. c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 832 Lo thus byiaped and bigiled [v.r. bygiled, begiled, bygyled] was he. c 1450 Merlin 9 The feende myght neuer be-gyle her. 1552 Latimer Serm. Lincoln ii. 73 Esau wept when Jacob begyled him. 1653 Walton Angler 170 That you may..beguile this crafty fish. 1663 Cowley Verses & Ess. (1669) 20 The foolish Lights which Travailers beguile. 1821 J. Baillie Met. Leg., Lady G. B. ii, Are not my eyes beguiled? 1858 Longfellow M. Standish viii. 81 Into an ambush beguiled, cut off with the whole of his forces. |
b. absol.
| c 1305 St. James 39 in E.E.P. 59 Leue to bigyli & bitraye also In eche quyntise þat mai. 1382 Wyclif Isa. xxviii. 22 And now wileth not bigilen [1388 nyle ȝe scorne; Coverd., make no mockes]. ― Job xl. 24 Whether thou shalt begile to hym as to a bird. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. x. liv. 242 For it a Nature was in Stukelie to begile. |
2. To deprive of by fraud, to cheat out of.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 8632 Qui has þu me bigiled [Cott. bisuiken] sua Of mi child þat mi-selue bar? 1394 P. Pl. Crede 51 Wymmen..begileth hem of her good wiþ glauerynge wordes. 1593 Hooker Eccl. Pol. iii. i. §12 Wks. 1841 I. 285 Infants are beguiled of their right. 1611 Bible Col. ii. 18 Let no man beguile you of your reward. 1771 Mackenzie Man Feel. xxxiv. (1803) 62 ‘I fear..sleep has beguiled me of my time.’ 1826 Scott Woodst. xxxviii, Time is beguiling man of his strength. |
† 3. To cheat (hopes, expectations, aims, or a person in them); to disappoint, to foil. Obs.
| 1483 Caxton Cato C vi, He is begyled for he findeth nothyng. 1576 Baker Gesner's Jewell Health 201 a, This drinck rightly ministred never fayleth nor beguyleth the Phisition. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. v. iv. 37 Thou hast beguil'd my hopes. 1596 Spenser F.Q. i. xi. 25 The knight was wroth to see his stroke beguil'd. a 1670 Spalding Troub. Chas. I, (1792) I. 165 (Jam.) Still looking for the coming of his soldiers, but he was beguiled. |
4. To win the attention or interest of (any one) by wiling means; to charm, divert, amuse; to wile (one) on, or into any course.
| [a 1225 Ancr. R. 330 Edmodnesse eadiliche bigileð ure Louerd..& biȝit of his gode.] 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1404 It beguil'd attention, charm'd the sight. 1829 I. Taylor Enthus. vii. 177 Fertile in devices for beguiling mankind into virtue. 1872 Jenkinson Guide Eng. Lakes (1879) 198 The charms of this stream will beguile the tourist and diminish the toil of the ascent. |
5. To divert attention in some pleasant way from (anything painful, or irksome); to elude the disagreeable sensation of, and so to cause to pass insensibly or pleasantly; to charm away, wile away.
| 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iv. i. 35 Take choyse of all my Library, And so beguile thy sorrow. 1601 ― Twel. N. iii. iii. 41, I will bespeake our dyet, Whiles you beguile the time. 1718 Pope Iliad ii. 788 Pleasing conference beguiles the day. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 152 By sports like these are all their cares beguil'd. 1802 Southey Thalaba iv, With various talk beguiling the long way. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 177 Took a book to beguile the tedious hours. |
▪ II. beguile, n. Sc.
(bɪˈgaɪl)
[f. prec.]
Deception.
| 1637 Rutherford Lett. 176 (1862) I. 417, I will die in that sweet beguile. a 1709 W. Guthrie Serm. 20 (Jam.) Yond man has given himself a great beguile. 1768 Ross Helenore 70 (Jam.), I gets the beguile. Nae thing I finds. |