deceive

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English deceiven,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French deceivre, a by-form of deceveir or decevoir,^[5][4][6][7] modern French décevoir.^[8][9] Barnhart and the OED take the English verb from the stressed stem of deceveir, deceiv-.^[3][9] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from the first third of the 12th century, with the senses to deceive, defraud, disappoint and ensnare.^[10] The French verb comes, through a reshaped popular form,^[11][6] from Latin dēcipiō (“to ensnare, take in, cheat”),^{[8][11][3][7]} formed from dē- and capiō (“to take, seize”),^{[8][11][7][12]} from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to grasp”).^[8][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

To be mistaken (in the passive) and to mislead: the OED's first records are from about 1315 and about 1320,^[9] while Etymonline and Barnhart date the verb to about 1300.^[8][3]

Semantic evolution

Ayto notes that to deceive someone was originally to "catch" or "ensnare" them.^[7] The literal sense, to take unawares by craft, was in use from the 14th to the late 18th century,^[9] and the verb also meant to cheat or defraud (about 1330 to 1626) and to betray (to 1658).^[9] From 1571 it was used for disappointing a hope or expectation, now archaic,^[9][4][13] and in Somerset dialect deceive still meant simply to disappoint, with no idea of deceit.^[14] The main modern sense, to make someone believe what is false, is recorded from about 1320.^[9] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to cause to mistake".^[15] The noun deceit comes from the French past participle, while deception is based on the Latin past participle stem.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – first recorded.^[8][3]
• c. 1315 – passive, to be mistaken.^[9]
• c. 1320 – to mislead, cause to believe what is false.^[9]
• c. 1330 – to cheat, defraud (obsolete by 1626).^[9]
• before 1375 – to ensnare, take unawares (obsolete by 1794).^[9]
• 1382 – reflexive, to deceive oneself.^[9]
• c. 1384 – deceiver.^[3]
• before 1400 – to betray (obsolete by 1658).^[9]
• 1571 – to disappoint (a hope or expectation).^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make someone believe something that is not true; to mislead: The seller deceived us about the car's mileage.^[13][4][9]
2. deceive oneself: to refuse to accept the truth.^[13][9]
3. To be sexually unfaithful to a partner.^[13]
4. (archaic) To disappoint a hope or expectation.^[13][4][9]
5. (archaic) To take unawares by trickery; to ensnare.^[4][9]
6. (obsolete, 1400–1658) To betray.^[4][9]
7. (obsolete, 1330–1626) To cheat or defraud.^[4][9]

Word family

• deceivable
• deceiver
• deceivingly
• deceivableness
• deceivably
• redeceive
• undeceive

Related words

• deception
• deceptive
• deceit
• receive
• conceive
• perceive
• capture
• captive

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
8. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
12. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.