wile

See also: Wile, wiłę, and wíle

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /waɪl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪl
• Homophone: while

Etymology 1

From Middle English wile, wyle, from Old Northern French wile (“guile”) 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.

Noun

wile (plural wiles)

1. (usually in the plural) A trick or stratagem practiced for ensnaring or deception; a sly, insidious artifice

   He was seduced by her wiles.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     to frustrate all our plots and wiles

   • 1796, George Washington, "Farewell Address", American Daily Advertiser:

     Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove, that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government.

Synonyms

• beguilement
• allurement

Derived terms

• wileful
• wily

Related terms

• guile

Translations

trick or stratagem

Bulgarian: хитрина (bg) (hitrina), уловка (bg) f (ulovka) Chinese: Mandarin: 詭計 / 诡计 (zh) (guǐjì), 計策 / 计策 (zh) (jìcè) Czech: trik (cs) m, lest (cs) f, fígl m Dutch: list (nl) f, fint (nl) f, sluwigheid f Finnish: kikka (fi) French: ruse (fr) f, leurre (fr) m German: Schlich (de) m Gothic: 𐌻𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 f (lists) Greek: πονηριά (el) f (poniriá), τέχνασμα (el) n (téchnasma), Irish: meang f Japanese: 策略 (ja) (さくりゃく, sakuryaku) Latin: sūtēla f Maori: rauhanga Russian: уло́вка (ru) f (ulóvka), хи́трость (ru) f (xítrostʹ), ухищре́ние (ru) n (uxiščrénije), трюк (ru) (trjuk) Ukrainian: хи́трість (xýtristʹ), хитрува́ння (xytruvánnja)

Verb

wile (third-person singular simple present wiles, present participle wiling, simple past and past participle wiled)

1. (transitive) To entice or lure.
   • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

     He was good to look on, brawly dressed, and with a tongue in his head that would have wiled the bird from the tree.

Derived terms

• bewile
• outwile
• wile out

Etymology 2

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.

Verb

wile

1. Misspelling of while (“to pass the time”).

   Here's a pleasant way to wile away the hours.

   • 1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy’s Progress. […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC:

     “A fear of what?” asked the gentleman, who seemed to pity her.
     “I scarcely know of what,” replied the girl. “I wish I did. Horrible thoughts of death, and shrouds with blood upon them, and a fear that has made me burn as if I was on fire, have been upon me all day. I was reading a book to-night, to wile the time away, and the same things came into the print.”

References

• Grammarist.com While away or wile away?
• Common Errors in the English Language Wile Away, While Away

Anagrams

• Lewi, Liew, Weil, lwei

Gullah

Etymology

From English wild.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /waɪl/, /waɪ.ɫ/

Adjective

wile

1. wild

References

• De Nyew Testament‎, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc., 2025

Mapudungun

Noun

wile (Raguileo spelling)

1. tomorrow

Synonyms

• ule
• wvle

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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwiːl(ə)/

Noun

wile

1. wile, trick, artifice
2. a sorcerer

Derived terms

• wili

Descendants

• English: wile

Old English

Verb

wile

1. third-person singular present indicative of willan

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvi.lɛ/
• Rhymes: -ilɛ
• Syllabification: wi‧le

Noun

wile m

1. locative/vocative singular of wił

Noun

wile f

1. dative/locative singular of wiła

Further reading

• wile in Polish dictionaries at PWN