Where does “theft” come from?

Theft comes from Middle English theft, from Old English þīefþu, from Proto-Germanic þiubiþō, a noun formation using the Proto-Germanic suffix -iþō derived from Proto-Indo-European -iteh₂, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -tós.

theft (English): The act of stealing property

Definitions

  1. The act of stealing property

Ancestry of “theft”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishtheftTheft, stealing, robbery; Financial fraud; the...
2Old Englishþīefþtheft

Words derived from “theft”

Every word from Old English þīefþ →Every word from Middle English theft →