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
- The act of stealing property
Ancestry of “theft”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | theft | Theft, stealing, robbery; Financial fraud; the... |
| 2 | Old English | þīefþ | — |
Words derived from “theft”