beguile

verb

Etymology: From Middle English begilen, begylen; equivalent to be- + guile. Compare Middle Dutch begilen (“to beguile”). Doublet of bewile.

1. To deceive or delude (using guile).

   “And as wililye as thoſe ſhrewes that beguyle hym haue holpe hym to inuolue and intryke the matter: I ſhall vſe ſo playn and open a way therin, that euery man ſhall well ſee the trouth.”

   “I know, sir, I am no flatterer: he that beguiled you, in a plain accent, was a plain knave.”

2. To charm, delight or captivate.

   “1864 November 21, Abraham Lincoln (signed) or John Hay, letter to Mrs. Bixby in Boston I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming.”

   “I will never touch The Orb, even though its mysterious glow seduces and beguiles.”

3. To cause (time) to seem to pass quickly, by way of pleasant diversion.

   “We beguiled the hours away.”

   “They beguiled the time by backbiting and intriguing against each other in a foolish kind of way.”