theft

From Middle English theft, thefte, þefte, þefþe, þiefþe, from Old English þīfþ, þȳfþ, þēoft, earlier þīefþ, þēofþ (“act of thieving; theft”), from Proto-Germanic *þiubiþō, from *þeubaz (“thief”), equivalent to thief +‎ -th or thieve +‎ -th. Cognate with Old Frisian thiuvethe, thiufthe (“theft”), Old Norse þýfð, þýft, and (obsolete) Dutch diefte.

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /θɛft/
• Rhymes: -ɛft

theft (countable and uncountable, plural thefts)

1. The act of stealing property.

• See Thesaurus:theft

• petty theft

• thief
• thieve

• nick
• steal
• TWOC

• theft on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• thefte, þyefþe, þiefþe, þifte, þeofþe, þeuft, þeefte, thifthe, theffte, þeft

From Old English þīefþ, from Proto-Germanic *þiubiþō; equivalent to thef +‎ -th.

• IPA^(key): /θeːft/, /θɛft/, /θeːfθ/, /θɛfθ/
• (mainly southern ME) IPA^(key): /θiːft/, /θift/

theft

1. Theft, stealing, robbery (in general or as an individual instance)
2. Financial fraud; the acquiring of financial goods maliciously.
3. Some act viewed negatively compared or equated to theft.
4. Stolen or illegally acquired goods or possessions.
5. (rare) An alleged instance of robbery.

• English: theft
• Scots: thift, theft

• “thẹ̄̆ft(e (n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-10-21.