A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1951 (DOST Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1375-1420, 1475-1586
[1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
Gile, Gyle, n. Also: ghile, geile, gille, gil(l; ghyle, gyl(l, gyil(e, guyll. [ME. gyle, gile (a 1225), OF. guile.]
1. Guile, deceit. 1375 Barb. i. 172.
Through gret sutelte and ghyle … He was arestyt syne and tane 1375 Ib. vi. 4.
Schir Yngerame … That thoucht his sutelte and gyle Had all falȝeit in-to that place a1400 Legends of the Saints xxv. 571.
With slichtis & with gret gyle Sa has he wrocht a1400 Ib. xxx. 307.
Gyf … it be sa. & that thu spekis for na gyle c1400 Troy-bk. ii. 634.
Eneas and … Anthenore That all the gyle wyst weill befor c1420 Wynt. i. 1686.
In to that quhyle Wpe ras falshede, swyk and gyle a1500 Henr. Fab. 2209.
As the foxe with dissimulance and gyle Gart the wolf wene [etc.] c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace vi. 630.
Than rais thai wp, for Wallace dredyt gyll 1531 Bell. Boece II. 234.
The treason done to thaim be gile of Inglismen 1567 Gude and Godlie Ballatis 208.
Say weill is slipper and makis mony wylis, Do weill is semelie, without ony gylis a1570-86 Maitland Maitland Folio MS ci. ii.
Rycht few frome gyle can thame debait
2. Freq. in combination with fraud, etc. See Fraud n. 2.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Gile n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 6 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/gile_n>
