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Origin and history of deception

deception(n.)

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, beguile, cheat," from de "from" or pejorative (see de-) + capere "to take," from PIE root *kap- "to grasp."

From mid-15c. as "state of being deceived; error, mistake;" from 1794 as "artifice, cheat, that which deceives."

also from early 15c.

Entries linking to deception

self-deception(n.)

"deception concerning oneself, act of deceiving oneself," 1670s, from self- + deception. Also self-deceit (1670s). Related: Self-deceived.

de-

active word-forming element in English and in many verbs inherited from French and Latin, from Latin de "down, down from, from, off; concerning" (see de), also used as a prefix in Latin, usually meaning "down, off, away, from among, down from," but also "down to the bottom, totally" hence "completely" (intensive or completive), which is its sense in many English words.

As a Latin prefix it also had the function of undoing or reversing a verb's action, and hence it came to be used as a pure privative — "not, do the opposite of, undo" — which is its primary function as a living prefix in English, as in defrost (1895), defuse (1943), de-escalate (1964), etc. In some cases, a reduced form of dis-.

*kap-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to grasp."

It might form all or part of: accept; anticipate; anticipation; behave; behoof; behoove; cable; cacciatore; caitiff; capable; capacious; capacity; capias; capiche; capstan; caption; captious; captivate; captive; captor; capture; case (n.2) "receptacle;" catch; catchpoll; cater; chase (n.1) "a hunt;" chase (v.) "to run after, hunt;" chasse; chasseur; conceive; cop (v.) "to seize, catch;" copper (n.2) "policeman;" deceive; emancipate; except; forceps; gaffe; haft; have; hawk (n.); heave; heavy; heft; incapacity; inception; incipient; intercept; intussusception; manciple; municipal; occupy; participation; perceive; precept; prince; purchase; receive; recipe; recover; recuperate; sashay; susceptible.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit kapati "two handfuls;" Greek kaptein "to swallow, gulp down," kope "oar, handle;" Latin capax "able to hold much, broad," capistrum "halter," capere "to grasp, lay hold; be large enough for; comprehend;" Lettish kampiu "seize;" Old Irish cacht "servant-girl," literally "captive;" Welsh caeth "captive, slave;" Gothic haban "have, hold;" Old English hæft "handle," habban "to have, hold."

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    deceit
    c. 1300, "trickery, treachery, lying," from Old French deceite, fem. past participle of deceveir, decevoir, from Latin decipere "to ensnare, take in, beguile, cheat," from de "from" or pejorative (see de-) + capere "to take," from PIE root *kap- "to grasp." From mid-14c. as "act
    trick
    early 15c., "a cheat, a mean ruse," from Old North French trique "trick, deceit, treachery, cheating," from trikier "to deceive, to cheat," variant of Old French trichier "to cheat, trick, deceive," of uncertain origin, probably from Vulgar Latin *triccare, from Latin tricari "be
    magic
    late 14c., magike, "art of influencing or predicting events and producing marvels using hidden natural forces," also "supernatural art," especially the art of controlling the actions of spiritual or superhuman beings; from Old French magique "magic; magical," from Late Latin magi
    sedulous
    "sincerely, diligently," from sedolo "without deception or guile," from se- "without, apart" (see se-) + dolo, ablative of...dolus "deception, guile, unlawful intention," which is cognate with Greek dolos "ruse, snare."...
    illusion
    mid-14c., "mockery, scorning, derision;" late 14c., "act of deception; deceptive appearance, apparition; delusion of the...mind," from Old French illusion "a mocking, deceit, deception" (12c.), from Latin illusionem (nominative illusio) "a mocking...
    humbug
    1751, in Oxford and Cambridge student slang, "a trick, jest, hoax, imposition, deception," a word of unknown origin; it also...II no. 2, 1751]   The meaning "spirit of deception or imposition; hollowness, sham" is from 1825....
    frustration
    "act of frustrating, disappointment, defeat," 1550s, from Latin frustrationem (nominative frustratio) "a deception, a disappointment...
    magnification
    early 15c., magnificacioun, "act or state of making larger," from Old French magnificacion and directly from Late Latin magnificationem (nominative magnificatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of magnificare "esteem greatly, extol, make much of," from magnificus "great
    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
    simulation
    mid-14c., simulacioun, "a false show, false profession," from Old French simulation "pretence" and directly from Latin simulationem (nominative simulatio) "an imitating, feigning, false show, hypocrisy," noun of action from past-participle stem of simulare "imitate," from stem of

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