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Origin and history of swindle

swindle(v.)

"to cheat, defraud," 1782, a back-formation from swindler "cheater" (q.v.). Related: Swindled; swindling. The noun in the sense of "act of swindling, fraudulent scheme" is implied by 1833. The travelling agent's jocular swindle-sheet "expense account" is by 1923.

also from 1782

Entries linking to swindle

swindler(n.)

"one who cheats others, one who practices fraud or imposition," 1774, from German Schwindler "giddy person, extravagant speculator, cheat," from schwindeln "to be giddy, act extravagantly, swindle," from Old High German swintilon "be giddy," frequentative form of swintan "to languish, disappear;" cognate with Old English swindan, and probably with swima "dizziness" (see swim (v.)). The words is "said to have been introduced into London by German Jews about 1762" [OED, 2nd ed. print, 1989].

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    Trends of swindle

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    rook
    [European crow], Middle English roke, from Old English hroc, from Proto-Germanic *khrokaz (source also of Old Norse hrokr, Middle Dutch roec, Dutch roek, Middle Swedish roka, Old High German hruoh "crow"), probably imitative of its raucous voice. Compare crow (n.), also Gaelic ro
    diddle
    a set of more or less unrelated meanings that have gathered around a suggestive sound: From 1806 as "to cheat, swindle" (slang); also dialectal duddle, diddle "to totter" (1630s); "move rapidly up and down or backward and forward" (1786). Meaning "waste time" is recorded from 182
    mulct
    early 15c., "to punish by a fine or forfeiture," from Latin mulctare, altered (Barnhart calls it "false archaism") from multare "punish, to sentence to pay a fine," from multa "penalty, fine," which is perhaps from Oscan or Samnite [Klein], or perhaps connected to multus "numerou
    thimble
    thimbles and a pea or button, is attested from 1825 by this name, though references to thimble cheats, probably the same swindle...
    phony
    His most successful swindle was selling "painted" or "phony" diamonds....
    shuck
    corn, or from the capers associated with husking frolics; such as "to strip (off) one's clothes" (1848) and "to deceive, swindle...the protective and evasive behavior normally adopted towards white people in "traditional" race relations; the sense of "swindle...
    hype
    verb is attested from 1937), probably in part a back-formation of hyperbole, but also from underworld slang verb hype "to swindle...
    teach
    Old English tæcan (past tense tæhte, past participle tæht) "to show, point out, declare, demonstrate," also "to give instruction, train, assign, direct; warn; persuade," from Proto-Germanic *taikijan "to show" (source also of Old High German zihan, German zeihen "to accuse," Goth
    rig
    late 15c., originally nautical, "to fit (a ship) with necessary tackle, make (a ship) ready for sea," a word of obscure origin, probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Danish, Norwegian rigge "to equip," Swedish rigga "to rig, harness"), though these may be from English; per
    gyp
    also gip, "to cheat, swindle," 1889, American English, traditionally derived from Gypsy (n.). Gyp/gip/jip is attested from 1794 as university slang for a servant that waited on students in their halls. This is said to have been especially a Cambridge word, and a story told there

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