Cheat
/tʃiːt/noun
To deceive or defraud someone, or to break rules to gain an unfair advantage.
Did you know?The word was originally tied to the legal idea of property reverting to the lord or king when no rightful heir existed, and only later drifted into the modern sense of trickery and fraud.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*skaut- / *skautjaną
“to fall out, be separated”
Old French
OF
eschete
“property that falls to a feudal lord; forfeited estate”
Middle English
ME
cheten
“to obtain by forfeiture; to seize as escheat”
14th–15th Century
English
cheat
“to confiscate or forfeit property; later, to defraud”
Modern English
English
cheat
“to deceive, swindle, or gain an unfair advantage”