An artifice or trick in war for deceiving the enemy; hence, in general, artifice; deceptive device; secret plot; evil machination
A stratagem is a plan that is intended to achieve a particular effect, often by deceiving people. Trade discounts may be used as a competitive stratagem to secure customer loyalty. = ploy. a trick or plan to deceive an enemy or gain an advantage = ploy (stratagemma, from , from stratagema, from stratagein , from strategos , from stratos + agein )