deceit

Etymology

From Middle English deceyte, from Old French deceite, deçoite, from decevoir (“to deceive”), from Latin dēcipere (“to cheat, mislead”).

noun

1. An act or practice intended to deceive; a trick.
   The whole conversation was merely a deceit.
2. An act of deceiving someone.
   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.
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.