different between defraud vs beguile

English

Alternative forms

• defraude (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English defrauden, from Old French defrauder, from de- + frauder.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d?.?f???d/
• Rhymes: -??d

Verb

defraud (third-person singular simple present defrauds, present participle defrauding, simple past and past participle defrauded)

1. (transitive) To obtain money or property from (a person) by fraud; to swindle.

   • I had never defrauded a man of a farthing, nor called him knave behind his back. But now the last rag that covered my nakedness had been torn from me. I was branded a blackleg, card-sharper, and murderer.

2. (archaic) To deprive.

   • 1872, William Goodell, "On Conjugal Onanism and Kindred Sins", Nashville Journal of Medicine and Surgery, vol. 9, page 63.

Related terms

• befraud
• defrauder

Translations

See also

• fraudster

Anagrams

• frauded

English

Alternative forms

• begyle [from the Middle English period through the 16th century]

Etymology

From Middle English begilen, begylen; equivalent to be- +? guile. Compare Middle Dutch begilen (“to beguile”). Doublet of bewile.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -a?l
• IPA^(key): /b???a?l/

Verb

beguile (third-person singular simple present beguiles, present participle beguiling, simple past and past participle beguiled)

1. (transitive) To deceive or delude (using guile).
   • a. 1608, William Shakespeare, King Lear, II, II, 102.

     I know, sir, I am no flatterer: he that beguiled you, in a plain accent, was a plain knave.

2. (transitive) To charm, delight or captivate.
   • 1864 November 21, Abraham Lincoln (signed) or John Hay, letter to Mrs. Bixby in Boston

     I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming.

   I will never touch The Orb, even though its mysterious glow seduces and beguiles.

3. (transitive) To cause (time) to seem to pass quickly, by way of pleasant diversion.

   We beguiled the hours away

Related terms

• wile

Translations

References

• beguile in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• beguile in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.