Monday, February 14, 2011

Inveigle

Inveigle \in-VAY-guhl\ or \in-VEE-guhl\ , transitive verb;
1. To persuade by ingenuity or flattery; to entice
2. To obtain by ingenuity or flattery

This word dates to the late 15th century and originally meant "to blind (someone's) judgment". It comes from Middle French aveugler ("delude, make blind") which derives from Vulgar Latin *aboculus ("without sight, blind"). The Vulgar Latin word is based on Latin ab- + oculus ("without" + "eye"). The sense of winning over by deceit or "seduce" dates to the 1530's.

Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Monday, February 14
Etymologies come from the Oxford English Dictionary and/or Etymonline.com

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