Hypertext Webster Gateway: "deceit"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Deceit \De*ceit"\, n. [OF. deceit, des[,c]ait, decept (cf.
deceite, de[,c]oite), fr. L. deceptus deception, fr.
decipere. See {Deceive}.]
1. An attempt or disposition to deceive or lead into error;
any declaration, artifice, or practice, which misleads
another, or causes him to believe what is false; a
contrivance to entrap; deception; a wily device; fraud.
Making the ephah small and the shekel great, and
falsifying the balances by deceit. --Amos viii.
5.
Friendly to man, far from deceit or guile. --Milton.
Yet still we hug the dear deceit. --N. Cotton.
2. (Law) Any trick, collusion, contrivance, false
representation, or underhand practice, used to defraud
another. When injury is thereby effected, an action of
deceit, as it called, lies for compensation.
Syn: Deception; fraud; imposition; duplicity; trickery;
guile; falsifying; double-dealing; stratagem. See
{Deception}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
deceit
n 1: the quality of being fraudulent [syn: {fraudulence}]
2: a misleading falsehood [syn: {misrepresentation}, {deception}]
3: the act of deceiving [syn: {deception}, {dissembling}, {dissimulation}]
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