ENGLISH
REFERENCE

inveigle

v.
UK //ɪnvˈeɪɡəl// in·vei·gle Archaic
Synonyms
Origin

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman enveugler, alteration of aveugler (“to blind, to delude”), from Old French avogle (“without eyes”), from Late Latin ab oculīs (“without eyes”, literally “away from the eyes”). The in- might be by analogy to variation bettwen a- and en- in other French words, which was then latinised into in-. For the pronunciation with /iː/, compare the development of people; that with /eɪ/ is presumably a spelling pronunciation.

© 2026 English Reference