defalcation

noun

de·​fal·​ca·​tion ˌdē-ˌfal-ˈkā-shən 

ˌdē-ˌfȯl-,

di-;

ˌde-fəl-

1

archaic : deduction

2

: the act or an instance of embezzling

3

: a failure to meet a promise or an expectation

Did you know?

"The tea table shall be set forth every morning with its customary bill of fare, and without any manner of defalcation." No reference to embezzlement there! This line, from a 1712 issue of Spectator magazine, is an example of the earliest, and now archaic, sense of defalcation, which is simply defined as "curtailment." Defalcation is ultimately from the Latin word falx, meaning "sickle," and it has been a part of English since the 1400s. It was used early on of monetary cutbacks (as in "a defalcation in their wages"), and by the 1600s it was used of most any sort of financial reversal (as in "a defalcation of public revenues"). Not till the mid-1800s, however, did defalcation refer to breaches of trust that cause a financial loss, or, specifically, to embezzlement.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Legal Definition

defalcation

noun

de·​fal·​ca·​tion ˌdē-ˌfal-ˈkā-shən, -ˌfȯl-, di-; ˌde-fəl-ˈkā-shən 

1

: failure to account for or pay over money that has been entrusted to one's care

also : an instance of such failure compare embezzle, misappropriate

Note: Defalcation does not necessarily involve culpability or misconduct.

2

: a failure to meet a promise or expectation

the school committee's defalcations did not end with its refusal to submit a desegregation plan

—S. L. Lynch

Etymology

earlier, deduction, lessening, shortcoming, from Medieval Latin defalcatio discounting of debt, from defalcare to cut down, deduct, from Latin de- away from + falc-, falx sickle