theft
/θɛft/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.13 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "resource theft"
- "Bike theft is on the rise."
- "A suspect was arrested for the theft of a gold necklace."
- "If you steal a candy bar, you are guilty of theft, regardless of the value. You can't fudge the theft by saying, "But it was only a candy bar," or "I didn't steal it from a person, but from a rich corporation," or "Everyone steals from the government.""
- "That last problem did intrude on Hazzard’s roamings, and when she refers to the living city it is with periodic references to thefts of cars and wallets, with a warning not to carry anything “snatchable” by the thieves on motorcycles who whiz through the streets."
Etymology
From Middle English theft, thefte, þefte, þefþe, þiefþe, Old English þīefþ, from Proto-West Germanic *þiubīþu, from Proto-Germanic *þiubīþō (“theft”), from *þiubijaną (“to thieve, steal”), equivalent to thieve + -t (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with West Frisian tsjeafte (“theft”), dialectal Dutch diefte (“theft”), obsolete German Diebde (“theft”), Icelandic þýfð (“theft”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /θɛft/
- British English: /θɛft/