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# The Good Oil Word of the Day
- URL: https://goodoil.news/the-good-oil-word-of-the-day-257/
- Published: 2025-04-18T18:15:32.000Z
- Updated: 2025-04-18T18:15:31.000Z
- Author: David Theobald
- Tags: General, Word of the Day

The word for today is…

stratagem (noun): 

1a: an artifice or trick in war for deceiving and outwitting the enemy

b: a cleverly contrived trick or scheme for gaining an end

2: skill in ruses or trickery

Source : [Merriam -Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stratagem?ref=goodoil.news)

Etymology : A stratagem is any clever scheme—sometimes one that's part of an overall strategy (i.e., a carefully prepared plan of action). The word stratagem entered English in the 15th century and was originally used in reference to some artifice, such as a military plan or maneuver, that was designed to deceive or outwit the enemy. This military sense can be traced back to the word's Greek ancestor stratēgein, meaning "to act as a general." Stratēgein, in turn, comes from stratēgos (meaning "general"), which comes from stratos ("camp" or "army") and agein ("to lead"). Stratēgos is an ancestor of strategy as well; that word arrived in English more than a century after stratagem.

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