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Origin and history of cheating

cheating(n.)

"deceptiveness, swindling," 1530s, verbal noun from cheat (v.).

also from 1530s

Entries linking to cheating

cheat(v.)

mid-15c., "to escheat, to seize as an escheat," a shortening of Old French escheat, legal term for revision of property to the state when the owner dies without heirs, literally "that which falls to one," past participle of escheoir "happen, befall, occur, take place; fall due; lapse (legally)," from Late Latin *excadere "fall away, fall out," from Latin ex- "out" (see ex-) + cadere "to fall" (from PIE root *kad- "to fall").

Also compare escheat. The royal officers who had charge of escheats evidently had a reputation for unscrupulousness, and the meaning of the verb evolved through "confiscate" (mid-15c.) to "deprive unfairly" (1580s), to "deceive, impose upon, trick" (1630s). The intransitive sense of "act dishonestly, practice fraud or trickery" is from 1630s. To cheat on (someone) "be sexually unfaithful" is attested by 1934. Related: Cheated; cheating.

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    ploy
    manuals in books such as 1947's "The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship: Or the Art of Winning Games Without Actually Cheating...
    blackleg
    and games of chance are played, and the seeking of subsistence by dishonorable betting, but does not always imply direct cheating...
    barter
    The connection between "trading" and "cheating" exists in several languages. Related: Bartered; bartering....
    trick
    early 15c., "a cheat, a mean ruse," from Old North French trique "trick, deceit, treachery, cheating," from trikier "to deceive...
    skin
    As an adjective, it formerly had a slang sense of "cheating" (1868, compare the verb); that of "pornographic" is attested...
    pony
    [Century Dictionary, 1897]  Meaning "crib of a text as a cheating aid," especially a translation of a Greek or Latin...
    coney
    Association with "cheating" is from coney-catcher, "A term made famous by [Robert] Greene in 1591, and in great vogue for...
    deception
    early 15c., decepcioun, "act of misleading, a lie, a falsehood," from Old French déception (13c., decepcion) or directly from Late Latin deceptionem (nominative deceptio) "a deceiving," noun of state or action from past-participle stem of Latin decipere "to ensnare, take in, begu
    teach
    Old English tæcan (past tense tæhte, past participle tæht) "to show, point out, declare, demonstrate," also "to give instruction, train, assign, direct; warn; persuade," from Proto-Germanic *taikijan "to show" (source also of Old High German zihan, German zeihen "to accuse," Goth
    rig
    late 15c., originally nautical, "to fit (a ship) with necessary tackle, make (a ship) ready for sea," a word of obscure origin, probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Danish, Norwegian rigge "to equip," Swedish rigga "to rig, harness"), though these may be from English; per

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