Hypertext Webster Gateway: "stratagem"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Stratagem \Strat"a*gem\, n. [F. stratag[`e]me (cf. Sp.
estratagema, It. stratagemma), L. strategema, Gr. ?, fr. ? to
be leader of an army, fr. ? a general; ? an army (probably as
being spread out; cf. {Stratum}) + ? to lead. See {Agent}.]
An artifice or trick in war for deceiving the enemy; hence,
in general, artifice; deceptive device; secret plot; evil
machination.
Fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. --Shak.
Those oft are stratagems which error seem, Nor is it
Homer nods, but we that dream. --Pope.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
stratagem
n 1: a maneuver in a game or conversation [syn: {ploy}, {gambit}]
2: an elaborate or deceitful scheme contrived to deceive or
evade; "his testimony was just a contrivance to throw us
off the track" [syn: {contrivance}, {dodge}]
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