# wile

> English word · Noun · IPA /waɪl/ · frequency rank #46,267

## Definitions
1. A trick or stratagem practiced for ensnaring or deception; a sly, insidious artifice

## Etymology
From Middle English wile, wyle, from Old Northern French wile (“guile”) and Old English wīl (“wile, trick”) and wiġle (“divination”), from Proto-Germanic *wīlą (“craft, deceit”) (from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, bend”)) and Proto-Germanic *wigulą, *wihulą (“prophecy”) (from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to consecrate, hallow, make holy”)). Cognate with Icelandic vél, væl (“artifice, craft, device, fraud, trick”), Dutch wijle. Doublet of guile.

## Easily confused with
- **WL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-wl)
- **win** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-win)
- **WWE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-wwe)
- **wit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-wit)
- **woe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-woe)
- **wis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-wis)
- **wiz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-wiz)
- **wye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-wye)
- **wim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-wim)
- **with** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-with)
- **will** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-will)
- **wish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-wish)
- **wind** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-wind)
- **wine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-wine)
- **wins** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-wins)
- **wing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-wing)
- **wise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-wise)
- **wire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-wire)
- **wolf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-wolf)
- **wore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wile-vs-wore)

## Common misspellings (5)
`iwle`, `wiel`, `wille`, `wlie`, `wwile`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/wile