theft means the act of stealing property.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, theft ranks #11,548 of 42,747 for Qualifying.
theft is pronounced /θɛft/.
Etymology
From Middle English theft, thefte, þefte, þefþe, þiefþe, Old English þīefþ, from Proto-West Germanic *þiubiþu, from Proto-Germanic *þiubiþō, from *þeubaz (“thief”), equivalent to thief or thieve + -t (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Old Frisian thiuvethe, thiufthe (“theft”), dialectal Dutch diefte (“theft”), obsolete German Diebde (“theft”), Icelandic þýfð (“theft”).
noun
- The act of stealing property.e.g.“resource theft”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).