Definition of "deceit"

deceit

/dɪˈsiːt/

noun
plural deceits
1. An act or practice intended to deceive; a trick.
2. An act of deceiving someone.
  Quotations
  Upon his return he killed Eriphyle for her vanity and deceit of him and his father.
  1998, Mike Dixon-Kennedy, Encyclopedia of Greco-Roman Mythology, page 125
3. (uncountable) The state of being deceitful or deceptive.
  Quotations
  [T]he tvvo commended rules by him [Aristotle] ſet down, vvhereby the axioms of Sciences are precepted to be made convertible, and vvhich the latter men have not vvithout elegancy ſurnamed; the one the rule of truth, becauſe it preventeth deceipt; the other the rule of prudence, becauſe it freeth election, are the ſame thing in ſpeculation and affirmation, vvhich vve novv obſerve.
  1603 (date written), Bowyer, published 1734, page 411
  His mouth is full of curſing, and deceit, and fraud : vnder his tongue is miſchiefe and vanitie.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Psalms 10:7
4. (law) The tort or fraudulent representation of a material fact made with knowledge of its falsity, or recklessly, or without reasonable grounds for believing its truth and with intent to induce reliance on it; the plaintiff justifiably relies on the deception, to his injury.