Theft
noun
noun ·1 syllable ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The act of stealing property. countable, uncountable
"resource theft"
- 2 the act of taking something from someone unlawfully wordnet
Example
More examples"The man was charged with theft."
Etymology
From Middle English theft, thefte, þefte, þefþe, þiefþe, Old English þīefþ, from Proto-West Germanic *þiubiþu, from Proto-Germanic *þiubiþō, from *þeubaz (“thief”), equivalent to thief or thieve + -t (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Old Frisian thiuvethe, thiufthe (“theft”), dialectal Dutch diefte (“theft”), obsolete German Diebde (“theft”), Icelandic þýfð (“theft”).