The act of deceiving or tricking someone into believing something false.
From Middle English 'befolen,' combining the prefix 'be-' (meaning to make or cause) with 'fool,' derived from Old French 'fol' meaning foolish or silly. The meaning has remained consistent since the 13th century—to cause someone to act foolishly through deception.
The prefix 'be-' is like a magical transformer in English that turns adjectives and nouns into verbs: 'fool' becomes 'befool,' 'friend' becomes 'befriend,' 'little' becomes 'belittle.' It's one of those ancient prefixes that English borrowed from Germanic languages but rarely uses for new words anymore.
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