different between guile vs pretext

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English gile, from Anglo-Norman gile, from Old French guile (“deception”), from Frankish *wigila (“ruse”). Cognate via Proto-Germanic with wile.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?a?l/
• Rhymes: -a?l

Noun

guile (countable and uncountable, plural guiles)

1. (uncountable) Astuteness often marked by a certain sense of cunning or artful deception.
2. Deceptiveness, deceit, fraud, duplicity, dishonesty.

Translations

Verb

guile (third-person singular simple present guiles, present participle guiling, simple past and past participle guiled)

1. To deceive, beguile, bewile.

Derived terms

• beguile
• guileful
• guileless

Related terms

• wile

Translations

Etymology 2

Variant forms.

Noun

guile

1. Obsolete form of gold.
2. Alternative form of gyle

References

Old French

Etymology

From Frankish *wigila, see above

Noun

guile f (oblique plural guiles, nominative singular guile, nominative plural guiles)

1. trickery; deception

Descendants

• English: guile

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (guile)

English

Etymology

From French prétexte, from Latin praetextum (“an ornament, etc., wrought in front, a pretense”), neuter of praetextus, past participle of praetexere (“to weave before, fringe or border, allege”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p?i?t?kst/
• Hyphenation: pre?text

Noun

pretext (plural pretexts)

1. A false, contrived, or assumed purpose or reason; a pretense.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pretext

Translations

Verb

pretext (third-person singular simple present pretexts, present participle pretexting, simple past and past participle pretexted)

1. To employ a pretext, which involves using a false or contrived purpose for soliciting the gain of something else.

   The spy obtained his phone records using possibly-illegal pretexting methods.

Synonyms

• blag (UK)

Translations

See also

• Social engineering on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Further reading

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

Romanian

Etymology

From French prétexte.

Noun

pretext n (plural pretexte)

1. pretext

Declension