Definition of WILE

wile

Meanings

Plural: wiles

Noun

  • the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them)
  • A trick or stratagem practiced for ensnaring or deception; a sly, insidious artifice

Verb

  • To entice or lure.
  • Misspelling of while (“to pass the time”).

Origin / Etymology

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.

Scrabble Score: 7

wile is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
wile is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
wile is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 8

wile is a valid Words With Friends word