purloin
/pɜːˈlɔɪn/ verb
Forms purloins purloining purloined
- verb (transitive, usually formal or humorous) To take the property of another, often in breach of trust; to appropriate wrongfully; to steal.
- verb (intransitive) To commit theft; to thieve.
Synonyms
pilfer cabbage pinch abstract snarf swipe hook sneak filch nobble lift
Etymology
From Middle English purloynen (“to remove”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman purloigner (“to put far away”), one of the variants of Old French porloignier. Doublet of prolong.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To take or carry away for one's self; hence, to steal; to take by theft; to filch.
- verb To practice theft; to steal. Titus ii. 10.
Etymology [OF. purloignier, porloignier, to retard, delay; pur, por, pour, for (L. pro) + loin far, far off (L. longe). See Prolong, and cf. Eloign.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “purloin”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details