deceive, v.
(dɪˈsiːv)
Forms: α. 4 deseue, -sayue, -saife, -ceife, -cayue, dicayue, 4–5 deseyue, 4–6 deceue, 4–7 deceyue, 5–6 desave, (Sc. -sawe), 6 deceaph, 6–7 deceaue, 5– deceive. β. 4 desceiue, 4–5 -ceyue, -sayue, 5 -saue, -sayfe, 5–6 -seyue. γ. 4 (Sc.) dissaf, 4–5 disceyue, -seyue, dysceue, -saue, 4–5 (6 Sc.) dissaue, 4–6 dyssayue, 5 disceue, -saiue, -sayue, (Sc. -sayf, -sawe), dysseyue, 5–6 dysceyue, -seue, 6 disceiue, -ceaue, Sc. -saif.
[a. OF. decev-eir (stressed stem deceiv-), mod.F. décevoir:—L. dēcipĕre, f. de- I. 1 or 4 + capĕre to take. Cf. conceive.
The stem was subject in ME. and 16th c. to the same variations as those mentioned under deceit, and the prefix varied in like manner as de-, des-, dis-, whence came such curious spellings as disceave, dissave, dissaif; the stem vowel has passed through the stages (ɛɪ, ɛː, eː, iː). Quarles in 1635 (Emblems iii. ii.) rimed deceiv'd thee: sav'd thee.
(The literal sense of L. dēcipĕre was app. to catch in a trap, to entrap, ensnare; hence, to catch by guile; to get the better of by fraud; to cheat, mislead.)]
† 1. trans. To ensnare; to take unawares by craft or guile; to overcome, overreach, or get the better of by trickery; to beguile or betray into mischief or sin; to mislead. Obs. (or arch.)
| a 1300 Cursor M. 3172 (Gött) Þat þe child were noght percayued, ar þe suord him had dicayued. c 1340 Ibid. 27214 (Fairf.), & queþer he was þus dessayuid, sone ofter his creature he resceyuid. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. vii. (1495) 418 Somtyme a tame culuoure is..taughte to begyle and to dysceyue wylde coluoures and ledyth theym in to the foulers nette. c 1450 Merlin 4 The deuell..devised how he myght best disceyve the thre doughtres of this rich man. 1594 Willobie Avisa L j b, Apply her still with dyvers thinges (For giftes the wysest will deceave). 1611 Coryat Crudities 2 A certaine English man..was deceiued by those sands: for..he was suddenly ouertaken and ouerwhelmed with the waters. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 35 He it was whose guile..deceived The mother of mankind. 1741 Richardson Pamela I. 170 As we deceived and hooked the poor carp, so was I betrayed by false baits. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. II, The mother of mankind, who was deceived by the serpent. |
2. To cause to believe what is false; to mislead as to a matter of fact, lead into error, impose upon, delude, ‘take in’.
| c 1320 Seuyn Sag. (W.) 109, I wald noght he decayued ware. 1375 Barbour Bruce iv. 237 Thai mak ay thair answering In-till dowbill vndirstanding, Till dissaf thame that will thame trow. 1382 Wyclif Matt. xxiv. 11 Many false prophetis schulen ryse, and disceyue many. c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 124 Or els the rewlys of astronomy Dyssavys me. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxi. 462 Soo dysguysed for to dysceve us. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xxiv. 69 By hys fayr langage he may dyssayue vs. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. civ, Mine eye may be deceaued. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 189 Who [can] deceive his mind, whose eye Views all things at one view? 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xxx. III. 179 Two statesmen, who laboured to deceive each other and the world. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. ii. 98 Wolsey..was too wise to be deceived with outward prosperity. 1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib. ii. xix, He denied it..and I believed he was attempting to deceive me. |
b. absol. To use deceit, act deceitfully.
| c 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. (1866) 3 If þou will nowthire be dyssayuede ne dyssayue. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems (1893) xxi. 102 Quhair fortoun..dissavis With freyndly smylingis of ane hure. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. xv. §4 He can neither erre nor deceiue. 1769 Junius Lett. xxxv. 163 A moment of difficulty and danger, at which flattery and falsehood can no longer deceive. 1808 Scott Marm. vi. xvii, Ah, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive! 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 160 The makers of household implements..should be ashamed to deceive in the practice of their craft. |
c. refl. To allow oneself to be misled; to delude oneself. [F. se tromper.]
| 1382 Wyclif Jas. i. 22 Be ȝe doers of the word and not herers onely, deceyuynge you silf. 1535 Coverdale Bel & Dr. 7 Daniel smyled, and sayde: O kynge, disceaue not thyselfe. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest ii, I can no longer deceive myself. 1884 Gladstone in Standard 29 Feb. 2/7 Do not let us deceive ourselves on that point. |
d. In pass. sometimes merely: To be mistaken, be in error.
| c 1315 Shoreham 93 Ac many man desceyved hys..And weyneth that he be out of peryl. c 1325 Poem temp. Edw. II (Percy) lv, Forsoth he is deseyved, He wenyth he doth ful wel. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour 33 We are foule deceiued in you the tyme passed. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 41 He was not deceaued in his opinion. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. v. i. 111 That is the voice, Or I am much deceiu'd, of Portia. 1603 ― Meas. for M. iii. i. 197 How much is the good Duke deceiu'd in Angelo. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xiv. vi, I am very much deceived in Mr. Nightingale, if..he hath not much goodness of heart at the bottom. |
† 3. To be or prove false to, play false, deal treacherously with; to betray. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 1894 (Cott.) Quen noe sagh..þat þis rauen had him deceueid, Lete vt a doue. c 1470 Henry Wallace vi. 480 Thai swor that he had dissawit thair lord. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 6 The corruptyble rychesse of this worlde..forsaketh and deceyueth hym whan he weneth best. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, v. i. 11 You have deceiu'd our trust. 1605 Camden Rem., Epitaphs 53 Fame deceaues the dead mans trust. 1658 Whole Duty Man xv. §26. 125 He that does not carefully look to his masters profit, deceives his trust. |
b. fig. To prove false to; † to frustrate (a purpose, etc.) obs.; to disappoint (hope, expectation, etc.).
| 1571 Act 13 Eliz. in Bolton Stat. Irel. (1621) 360 Which good meaning of that good lawe..is daylie..deceyved by diverse evill disposed persons. 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab. lxviii, Till..doubtful moonlight did our rage deceive. 1697 ― Virg. Georg. iii. 190 The weak old Stallion will deceive thy Care. a 1700 ― (J.), Nor are my hopes deceiv'd. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. iv. ii. 89 Never was expectation more completely deceived. |
† 4. To cheat, overreach; defraud. Obs.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 319 Þat mad þe Tresorere þou has desceyued him. 1382 Wyclif 1 Thess. iv. 6 That no man ouer go nether disceyue his brother in chaffaringe. 1481 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 332 Desceteously wrought as in tannyng, where-thurgh the kynges lege peopell scholde be disceuyd. 1533 Gau Richt Vay (1888) 16 Thay that sellis ald and ewil guidis for new and thair throw dissauis oders falslie. 1625 Bacon Ess. Gardens (Arb.) 563 That the Borders..be..Set with Fine Flowers, but thin and sparingly, lest they Deceiue the Trees. 1626 ― Sylva §479 Where two Plants draw (much) the same Juyce, there the Neighbourhood hurteth; for the one deceiveth the other. |
† b. with of: To cheat out of. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 8626 (Cott.) Sco parceuid, þat sco was of hir child deceuid. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 73 Whanne þei be raueine & ypocrisie disceyuen hem of here goodis. 1525 Wido Edyth, The sixt merye Jest: how this wydowe Edyth deceiued a Draper..of a new Gowne and a new Kyrtell. 1620 J. Wilkinson Coroners & Sherifes 62 To deceive them of it and to gain it for themselves. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 990 Childless thou art, Childless remain; so Death Shall be deceav'd his glut. a 1761 Oldys in D'Israeli Cur. Lit. (1866) 563 [He] deceived me of a good sum of money which he owed me. |
† 5. To beguile, wile away (time, tediousness, etc.). Obs. (Cf. cheat v. 5.)
| 1591 Florio Sec. Fruites 65 Let us do something to deceaue the time, and that we may not thinke it long. 1663 Bp. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. ii. (1668) 5 To deceive the tediousness of the pilgrimage. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. x. (R.), This while I sung, my sorrows I deceiv'd. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 362 Happy to deceive the time, Not waste it. 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1844) II. xxxvii. 36 Amusements to deceive away the time. |