mulct

1 of 2

noun

ˈməlkt 

: fine entry 3, penalty

mulct

2 of 2

verb

mulcted; mulcting; mulcts

transitive verb

1

: to punish by a fine

2

a

: to defraud especially of money : swindle

b

: to obtain by fraud, duress, or theft

Did you know?

The Multi-Layered Mulct

A fine assessed as a penalty for an infraction is generally considered justifiable. Fraud, on the other hand, is wrong—it's just the sort of thing that deserves a fine. So in mulct we have a unique word, one that means both "to fine" and "to defraud." The "fine" sense came first. Mulct was borrowed from the Latin word for a fine, which is multa or mulcta. The "fine" sense is still in use, mostly in legal contexts ("the court mulcted the defendant for punitive damages"), but these days mulct is more often used for an illegal act. It has been speculated that the "defraud" use may have developed from an association with the verb milk, in its "to exploit, to coerce profit from" meaning (as in "she was milked by the lawyers for everything she had"), but that speculation has never been proven.

Synonyms

Noun

• damages
• fine
• forfeit
• forfeiture
• penalty

Verb

• beat
• bilk
• bleed
• cheat
• chisel
• chouse
• con
• cozen
• defraud
• diddle
• do
• do in
• euchre
• fiddle
• fleece
• flimflam
• gaff
• hose [slang]
• hustle
• nobble [British slang]
• pluck
• ream
• rip off
• rook
• screw
• shake down
• short
• shortchange
• skin
• skunk
• squeeze
• stick
• stiff
• sting
• sucker
• swindle
• thimblerig
• victimize

Examples of mulct in a Sentence

Noun

the loan shark usually imposed a mulct of an additional 20% on overdue payments

Verb

trying to mulct the insurance company for an accident that never happened

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Latin multa, mulcta

First Known Use

Noun

1584, in the meaning defined above

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

mulct

1 of 2 noun

ˈməlkt 

: fine entry 1

mulct

2 of 2 verb

1

: to punish by a fine

2

a

: to defraud especially of money

b

: to obtain by dishonest means

Legal Definition

mulct

noun

ˈməlkt 

: fine, penalty

mulct transitive verb

Etymology

Noun

Latin multa, mulcta