defalcate
[ˈdɛfəɫkeɪt] verb
Forms defalcates defalcating defalcated
- verb (intransitive) To misappropriate funds; to embezzle.
- verb To cut off (a part of something).
- verb To deduct or take away (a part of income, money, rents, etc.).
Synonyms
Etymology
First attested in the 1530s, in the sense “to lop off”; borrowed from Medieval Latin dēfalcātus, perfect passive participle of dēfalcō (“to cut or lop off”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from Latin dē (“off”) + falx (“sickle, scythe, pruning hook”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To cut off; to take away or deduct a part of; --used chiefly of money, accounts, rents, income, etc. To show what may be practicably and safely defalcated from the [the estimates]. Burke.
- verb To commit defalcation; to embezzle money held in trust. "Some partner defalcating, or the like." Carlyle.
Etymology [LL. defalcatus, p. p. of defalcare to deduct, orig., to cut off with a sickle; L. de- + falx, a sickle. See Falchion.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “defalcate”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details