Etymograph

English

deceive

Deceive comes from Anglo-Norman deceivre, from Latin dēcipiō ‘to deceive’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kapyéti1‘to be grasping’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapjō2‘to take, seize’reconstructed
  4. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEkapiō2
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapiō3‘to seize’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēcipiō3‘to deceive’
  7. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400deceivre3
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500deceyven3‘to deceive, trick, or mislead’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1829deceive3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *kapjō
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin capio, which cites LIV
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English deceive
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1829, Edgar Allan Poe, Tamerlane: “I know—for Death, who comes for me From regions…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *kapjōreconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kapyétiWiktionary, Proto-Italic *kapjō‘to be grasping’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapjōWiktionary, Latin capio, which cites LIV‘to take, seize’reconstructed
  4. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEkapiōWiktionary, Latin capio, which cites LIV
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapiōWiktionary, English deceive‘to seize’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēcipiōWiktionary, English deceive‘to deceive’
  7. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400deceivreWiktionary, English deceive
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500deceyvenWiktionary, English deceive‘to deceive, trick, or mislead’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1829deceiveWiktionary, English deceive. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1829, Edgar Allan Poe, Tamerlane: “I know—for Death, who comes for me From regions…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kap-

had, head, capital, heavy, captain, catch, except, capacity, behavior, chapter, escape, heavily, achieve, cape, chef, occupation, cattle, cabin, chapel, capitol, acceptance, haven, capita, hawk, behave, precipitation, chaplain, cad, captivity, mischief, captive, mischievous, conceivable, conceive, 144 more

through Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti ‘to be grasping’

31 more

through Proto-Italic *kapjō ‘to take, seize’

case, capsule, cashier, chassis, cassette, casket, 30 more

through Archaic Latin kapiō

acceptable, 25 more

through Latin capiō ‘to seize’

cash, accept, capable, cable, chase, capture, cop, perception, recipe, reception, receive, recipient, anticipation, anticipate, caption, cater, susceptible, 33 more

through Latin dēcipiō ‘to deceive’

deception, deceptive, 3 more

Today it means

verb To trick or mislead.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “deceive”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Italic *kapjō, Latin capio. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kap- / deceive

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