embezzle
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English embesilen, from Anglo-Norman embesiler, embesillier, embeseillier (“to steal, cause to disappear”), from em- + Old French besillier (“to torment, destroy, gouge”), of unknown origin.[1]
Pronunciation
[edit]- (UK) IPA(key): /ɪmˈbɛz.əl/
- (US, Canada) IPA(key): /ɪmˈbɛz.əl/, /ɛmˈbɛz.əl/
Audio (General American): (file)
- (weak vowel merger) IPA(key): /əmˈbɛz.əl/
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /ɪmˈbez.əl/
Audio (Brisbane): (file)
- Rhymes: -ɛzəl
Verb
[edit]embezzle (third-person singular simple present embezzles, present participle embezzling, simple past and past participle embezzled)
- (law, business) To steal or misappropriate money that one has been trusted with, especially to steal money from the organisation for which one works.
- 1903, H. G. Wells, “Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation”, in Twelve Stories and a Dream:
- You waste your education in burglary. You should do one of two things. Either you should forge or you should embezzle. For my own part, I embezzle.
- 1861, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC:
- You let Dunsey have it, sir? And how long have you been so thick with Dunsey that you must collogue with him to embezzle my money?
Synonyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]to steal money that one has been trusted with
|
References
[edit]- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “embezzle”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
- English terms derived from Old French
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɛzəl
- Rhymes:English/ɛzəl/3 syllables
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- en:Law
- en:Business
- English terms with quotations
- en:Crime