Where does “deceitful” come from?
Deceitful comes from Middle English deceit combined with Old English -ful, ultimately derived from Latin decipere, meaning to ensnare or deceive, which traces back through Latin capio (to take) to the Proto-Indo-European root keh₂p-.
deceitful (English): Deliberately misleading or cheating; Deceptive,...
Definitions
- Deliberately misleading or cheating; Deceptive,...
Ancestry of “deceitful”, step by step
deceitful traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English deceit
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | deceit | An act or practice intended to deceive; a trick;... |
| 2 | Middle English | deceyte | Deception or deceit |
| 3 | Old French | deceite | — |
| 4 | Old French | decevoir | to deceive; to trick; to fool |
| 5 | Latin | dēcipere | — |
via English ful
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | ful | — |