A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1375-1650
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Begile, Begyle, v. Also: begyll(e, begil, beguill; p.p. begylvt, -it, begilit; begyld(e, begild, -guild; beguilt, begelt, begelit. [ME. begyle, -gile, bigile (c 1225), f. gile vb.] tr. To entrap or overreach by guile; to deceive or cheat.(a) 1375 Barb. xix. 680 (the man leit him begilit ill). a1400 Legends of the Saints xxvi. 812 (how he begil mocht the Iow). 1456 Hay I. 177/26 (to begile him). a1500 Henr. Fab. 1255 (al begilit thay will in schort tyme end). a1500 Id. Orph. 169 (withoutin gilt begild). 1513 Doug. iv. Prol. 101 (fair ladeys to begile). 1533 Gau 24/3 (we suld noth dissaue or begil thayme). c1550 Rolland Court of Venus iii. 447 (I am begilit and thay find it not thair). a1578 Pitsc. II. 87/12 (they war beguild withtin schort dayis).(b) a1400 Legends of the Saints xxv. 519 (trowand he mycht begylyt be). c1420 Wynt. vi. 2222 (wytht swylk a wyle This Makbeth for till begyle). 1456 Hay I. 188/34 (to begyle Cristyn folk); II. 31/28 (sik men that begylis thair lordis). c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace xi. 793 (quhat man mycht best Wallace begyll). c1500-c1512 Dunb. Flyt. 98 (na, gaipand fule, thow art begyld); xlix. 16 (his frawdfull wylis him self begylis). 1533 Reg. Great S. 286/2 (sa that our soverane lord be nocht begylit tharewith). 1562-3 Winȝet II. 6/35 (this is, or I am begylit, an infallible reul). 1567 Gude and Godlie Ballatis 182 (so lang the warld thay haif begylde). 1596 Dalr. II. 59/3 (fraudfullie to begyl the chanceller). 1622-6 Bisset II. 240/3 (to begyle merchandis throw malice). c1650 Spalding I. 201 (he wes begyllit).(c) a1400 Legends of the Saints xxxvi. 993 (Herot thocht hyme il begelt). 1559 Inverness B. Rec. I. 33 (ye ar all begelit). a1598 Ferg. Prov. 108 (wont beguilt the ladie).
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"Begile v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 12 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/begile>


