Decipitur

Decipitur is a Latin verb form meaning “is deceived” or “is being deceived.” It is the third person singular present passive indicative of decipere, a verb meaning to deceive, mislead, or beguile. The form shows that the subject experiences deception rather than performing it. Decipere belongs to the third conjugation; its present passive paradigm is decipior, deciperis, decipitur, decipimur, decipimini, decipiuntur. The corresponding perfect passive participle is deceptus, used with forms of sum to express perfect passive constructions (for example, deceptus est, “he has been deceived”).

Etymology and usage notes: decipere is derived from de- “away” + capere “to take,” historically conveying the sense of taking someone in or deceiving them. Decipitur occurs across classical, medieval, and ecclesiastical Latin, in narratives, rhetoric, and moral or legal prose, to indicate that a subject is misled by another agent or by circumstances. The agent in a passive construction can be introduced by a or ab + ablative (e.g., ab mendacibus consiliis, by lying counsels).

Examples: Populus decipitur ab mendacibus consiliis. Translation: The people are deceived by lying counsels. Quidam decipiuntur a sophisticis argumentis. Translation: Some are deceived by sophistic arguments.

In translation, decipitur is typically rendered as “is deceived” or “is being deceived,” preserving the passive voice and focal idea of deception rather than action.