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trick

/ˈtɹɪk/ noun

In Latin: dolus, sūtēla, captiō Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about trick at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. A cunning or deceitful action or device.
    he played a trick on me
  2. A period of work or duty.
  3. An attempt to get you to do something foolish or imprudent.
    that offer was a dirty trick

verb

  1. Deceive somebody.
    We tricked the teacher into thinking that class would be cancelled next week

Origin

From Middle English trikke, from Old Northern French trique (related to Old French trichier (“to defraud, act dishonestly, conceal, deceive, cheat”); > modern French tricher), itself possibly from Middle High German trechen (“to launch a shot at, play a trick on”), or one of its derivatives (e.g. Middle High German ūftrechen (“to do something to someone, hurt someone”), vertrechen (“to conceal, get over on someone”), zuotrechen (“to obtain falsely or deceitfully, wangle, finagle”), etc.); yet the Old French verb is equally likely to be derived from Vulgar Latin *triccāre, from Late Latin tricāre, from Latin trīcor, trīcārī (“dodge, search for detours; haggle, quibble”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)