deceit

English

Alternative forms

• deceipt (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English deceyte, from Old French deceite, deçoite, from decevoir (“to deceive”), from Latin dēcipere (“to cheat, mislead”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈsiːt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːt

Noun

deceit (countable and uncountable, plural deceits)

1. An act or practice intended to deceive; a trick.

   Synonyms: trick, fraud

   The whole conversation was merely a deceit.

2. An act of deceiving someone.

   Synonyms: deception, trickery; see also Thesaurus:deception

   • 1998, Mike Dixon-Kennedy, Encyclopedia of Greco-Roman Mythology, page 125:

     Upon his return he killed Eriphyle for her vanity and deceit of him and his father.

3. (uncountable) The state of being deceitful or deceptive.

   Synonyms: deceptiveness, deceitfulness, dissimulation, fraudulence, trickery, underhandedness; see also Thesaurus:deceit

   • 1603 (date written), [Francis] Bacon, “Valerius Terminus: Of the Interpretation of Nature; with the Annotations of Hermes Stella. Chapter XI. The Chapter Immediately Following the Inventary; Being the 11th in Order, a Part thereof.”, in Robert Stephens, compiler, edited by [John Lockyer], Letters and Remains of the Lord Chancellor Bacon, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, published 1734, →OCLC, page 411:

     [T]he tvvo commended rules by him [Aristotle] ſet down, vvhereby the axioms of Sciences are precepted to be made convertible, and vvhich the latter men have not vvithout elegancy ſurnamed; the one the rule of truth, becauſe it preventeth deceipt; the other the rule of prudence, becauſe it freeth election, are the ſame thing in ſpeculation and affirmation, vvhich vve novv obſerve.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 10:7:

     His mouth is full of curſing, and deceit, and fraud : vnder his tongue is miſchiefe and vanitie.

4. (law) The tort or fraudulent representation of a material fact made with knowledge of its falsity, or recklessly, or without reasonable grounds for believing its truth and with intent to induce reliance on it; the plaintiff justifiably relies on the deception, to his injury.

Derived terms

• deceited
• deceiteous
• deceitful
• deceitless
• self-deceit

Translations

act or behavior intended to deceive

Albanian: mashtrim (sq) m Arabic: خِدَاع m (ḵidāʕ), خَدْع m (ḵadʕ) Armenian: խաբեբայություն (hy) (xabebayutʻyun) Azerbaijani: hiylə (az), aldatma Basque: iruzur Belarusian: падма́н m (padmán) Bengali: প্রবঞ্চনা (bn) (proboncona), ফাঁকি (bn) (phãki) Bulgarian: изма́ма (bg) f (izmáma), лъжа́ (bg) f (lǎžá) Chinese: Mandarin: 欺騙 / 欺骗 (zh) (qīpiàn) Czech: podvod (cs) m Dutch: bedrog (nl) n, bedriegerij (nl) f Esperanto: mistifiko Estonian: pettus Faroese: svik n Finnish: petosyritys, petoksen yritys, petos (fi), huiputus (fi), huijaus (fi), harhautus (fi), vilppi (fi) French: tromperie (fr) f, ruse (fr) f Galician: engano (gl) m German: Betrügerei (de) f, Betrug (de) m Gothic: 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍄𐌴𐌹 f (liutei) Greek: απάτη (el) f (apáti) Ancient: ἀπάτη f (apátē), δόλωμα n (dólōma) Gujarati: please add this translation if you can Hebrew: רַמָּאוּת f (ramaút) Hindi: धोखा (hi) m (dhokhā), छल (hi) m (chal) Hungarian: megtévesztés (hu) Irish: meang f Italian: falsità (it) f, mendacità f, inganno (it) m, trucco (it) m Japanese: 詐欺 (ja) (sagi) Kabuverdianu: fantuxada Kazakh: алдау (aldau) Khmer: ការបោកប្រាស់ (kaa baok prah) Korean: 속임수 (ko) (sogimsu), 사기 (ko) (sagi), 속임 (sogim) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: hîle (ku) f, fêl (ku) f, lêhb (ku) f Kyrgyz: алдоо (ky) (aldoo) Latin: fraus (la) f, dolus m Latvian: maldināšana f Lithuanian: apgavystė f Macedonian: измама f (izmama) Malay: penipuan Middle English: ymagynynge Odia: ତଞ୍ଚକତା (or) (tañcakatā) Ossetian: фӕлывд (fælyvd) Persian: فریب (fa) (farib), گول (fa) (gul) Polish: oszustwo (pl) n, podstęp (pl) m Portuguese: velhacaria (pt) f, fraude (pt) f Romanian: decepție (ro) f Russian: обма́н (ru) m (obmán) Sanskrit: कपट (sa) m or n (kapaṭa) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: о̏бмана f, пре̏вара f, прије̑вара f Roman: ȍbmana (sh) f, prȅvara (sh) f, prijȇvara (sh) f Slovak: podvod m Slovene: prevara (sl) f Spanish: bellaquería (es) f, fraude (es) m, engaño (es) m, embeleco (es) m, trafa f Swedish: bedrägeri (sv) c Tajik: фиреб (tg) (fireb) Tatar: алдау (aldaw), алдак (tt) (aldaq) Telugu: దగా (te) (dagā), మోసము (te) (mōsamu) Thai: การหลอกลวง (th) Turkish: hile (tr), aldatma (tr), kandırma (tr) Turkmen: aldaw (tk) Ukrainian: обма́н m (obmán) Urdu: دھوکا m (dhokhā), فریب (farīb) Uyghur: ئالداش (aldash) Uzbek: aldash, firib (uz)

act or fact of deceiving

Finnish: huijaus (fi) French: tromperie (fr) f German: Täuschung (de) f Greek: απάτη (el) f (apáti) Ancient: ἀπάτη f (apátē) Hindi: छल (hi) m (chal), छलावा (hi) m (chalāvā) Hungarian: megtévesztés (hu) Irish: meang f Korean: 속임수 (ko) (sogimsu) Portuguese: logro (pt) m Romanian: înșelătorie (ro) f, înșelăciune (ro) f Russian: обма́н (ru) m (obmán) Spanish: fraude (es) m, engaño (es) m, dolo (es) m, trafa f, decebimiento m (disused) Swedish: bedrägeri (sv) c Telugu: మోసగించుట (mōsagiñcuṭa)

state of being deceptive

Finnish: vilpillisyys (fi) German: Falschheit (de) f Greek: απάτη (el) f (apáti) Hungarian: megtévesztő (hu) Japanese: 欺瞞 (ja) (giman) Kabuverdianu: fantuxada Korean: 기만 (ko) (giman) Russian: обма́нчивость (ru) f (obmánčivostʹ), лжи́вость (ru) f (lžívostʹ) Swedish: bedräglighet (sv) n

legal: fraudulent representation of a material fact

Finnish: petos (fi) French: fraude (fr) f German: Betrug (de) Italian: malafede (it) Romanian: fraudă (ro) f Russian: обма́н (ru) m (obmán) Spanish: fraude (es) m, dolo (es) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

French: (please verify) tromperie (fr) Italian: (please verify) inganno (it), (please verify) frode (it)