different between wile vs finesse

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wa?l/
• Rhymes: -a?l
• Homophone: while

Etymology 1

From Middle English wile, wyle, from Old Northern French wile (“guile”) and Old English w?l (“wile, trick”) and wi?le (“divination”), from Proto-Germanic *w?l? (“craft, deceit”) (from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, bend”)) and Proto-Germanic *wigul?, *wihul? (“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.

Synonyms

• beguilement
• allurement

Derived terms

• wileful
• wily

Related terms

• guile

Translations

Verb

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

1. To entice or lure

Derived terms

• bewile
• outwile

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, hw?len, "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.

References

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

Anagrams

• Lewi, Liew, Weil, lwei

Mapudungun

Noun

wile (using Raguileo Alphabet)

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 w?l, wi?le (“wile, trick”), cognate with Old Norse vél (“artifice, craft”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?wi?l(?)/

Noun

wile

1. wile, trick, artifice
2. a sorcerer

Derived terms

• wili

Descendants

• English: wile

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?v?i.l?/

Noun

wile m

1. locative/vocative singular of wi?

Noun

wile f

1. dative/locative singular of wi?a

Further reading

• wile in Polish dictionaries at PWN

English

Etymology

From Middle English f?nesse (“degree of excellence; (of metal) fineness, purity”), from Middle French finesse, Old French finesse (“fineness; delicacy; slenderness”), from fine, fin (“fine, thin”) (from Latin f?nis (“end”); compare Middle English f?n (“of superior quality; precious, valuable; admirable, pleasing; pure, refined; fineness, purity; delicate, exquisite, fine; sharp, thin”)) + -esse (suffix forming nouns describing the condition of being something).

The verb is derived from the noun.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f??n?s/, /f?-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /f??n?s/, /f?-/
• Hyphenation: fin?esse

Noun

finesse (countable and uncountable, plural finesses)

1. (uncountable) Skill in the handling or manipulation of a situation. [from c. 1520]

   Synonym: finessing
2. (uncountable) The property of having elegance, grace, refinement, or skill. [from mid 16th c.]
3. (countable) An adroit manoeuvre. [from mid 16th c.]
4. (countable, card games) In bridge, whist, etc.: a technique which allows one to win a trick, usually by playing a card when it is thought that a card that can beat it is held by another player whose turn is over. [from early 18th c.]

Translations

Verb

finesse (third-person singular simple present finesses, present participle finessing, simple past and past participle finessed)

1. (transitive, chiefly Canada, US, politics) To evade (a problem, situation, etc.) by using some clever argument or strategem.
   • 2018, John C. Hull, Options, Futures and Other Derivatives (10th ed.), Pearson (2018), p. 276

     Almost miraculously, [risk-neutral valuation] finesses the problem that we know hardly anything about the risk aversion of the buyers and sellers of options.

2. (transitive, card games) To play (a card) as a finesse. [from mid 18th c.]
3. (transitive, intransitive) To handle or manage carefully or skilfully; to manipulate in a crafty way. [from mid 18th c.]

   Synonym: (slang) zhoosh
4. (intransitive, card games) To attempt to win a trick by finessing. [from mid 18th c.]
5. (intransitive, croquet, obsolete) To play a ball out of the way of an opponent.

Derived terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• finesse (card games) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• finesse (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Etymology

From fin +? -esse

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fi.n?s/
• Rhymes: -?s

Noun

finesse f (plural finesses)

1. fineness (of hair, writing etc.)
2. thinness
3. keenness, sharpness (of blade)
4. fineness, delicacy; slenderness
5. perceptiveness; sensitivity, finesse

Further reading

• “finesse” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).