cheat: [14] Cheat is a reduced form of escheat, a legal term for the reversion of property to the state on the death of the owner without heirs. This came from Old French escheoite, a derivative of the past participle of the verb escheoir ‘befall by chance, happen, devolve’, from Vulgar Latin *excadēre ‘fall away’, a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- ‘out’ and Latin cadere ‘fall’ (source of a wide range of English words from case ‘circumstance’ to occasion).
The semantic steps leading to the modern English sense of cheat seem to be ‘confiscate’; ‘deprive of something dishonestly’; ‘deceive’. => cadence, case, escheat, occasion, occident
cheat (v.)
mid-15c., "to escheat," a shortening of Old French escheat, legal term for revision of property to the state when the owner dies without heirs, literally "that which falls to one," past participle of escheoir "happen, befall, occur, take place; fall due; lapse (legally)," from Late Latin *excadere "fall away, fall out," from Latin ex- "out" (see ex-) + cadere "to fall" (see case (n.1)). Also compare escheat. The royal officers evidently had a low reputation. Meaning evolved through "confiscate" (mid-15c.) to "deprive unfairly" (1580s). To cheat on (someone) "be sexually unfaithful" first recorded 1934. Related: Cheated; cheating.
cheat (n.)
late 14c., "forfeited property," from cheat (v.). Meaning "a deceptive act" is from 1640s; earlier, in thieves' jargon, it meant "a stolen thing" (late 16c.), and earlier still "dice" (1530s). Meaning "a swindler" is from 1660s.
实用例句
1. I know it sounds unbelievable but I never wanted to cheat.
我知道听上去难以置信，但我从不想撒谎。
来自柯林斯例句
2. He raised his right fist and declaimed: "Liar and cheat!"
他举起右拳高喊：“骗子，骗子！”
来自柯林斯例句
3. She is accused of attempting to cheat the taxman.
她被指控企图蒙骗税务员。
来自《权威词典》
4. Space the desk a meter apart so that the pupils can't cheat.
把桌子按一米的间隔摆开以防学生作弊.
来自《简明英汉词典》
5. I hope you wouldn't lower yourself to cheat in the examination.
