different between wily vs wile

English

Etymology

From Middle English wily, wiley, wyly; equivalent to wile +? -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wa?.li/
• Rhymes: -a?li
• Homophone: Wylie
• Hyphenation: wi?ly

Adjective

wily (comparative wilier or more wily, superlative wiliest or most wily)

1. Sly, cunning, full of tricks

   Horatio's new girlfriend is a wily coquette and poor Horatio is too smitten to see it.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:wily

Derived terms

• wilily
• wiliness

Translations

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