Word of the Day

: July 14, 2019

embezzle

verb im-BEZZ-ul

What It Means

: to appropriate (something, such as property entrusted to one's care) fraudulently to one's own use

embezzle in Context

The company's senior accounts manager embezzled thousands of dollars from her employer by way of a loophole in the accounting procedures.

"A 43-year-old Houston man has been sentenced to six years in federal prison after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $3.4 million from a Dallas-based design and construction company." — The Associated Press, 21 May 2018

Did You Know?

English has a lot of verbs that mean "to steal," including pilfer, rob, swipe, plunder, filch, and thieve. Embezzle differs from these by stressing the improper appropriation of property to which a person is entrusted—often in the form of company funds. First appearing in English in the 15th century, embezzle derives via Middle English from the Anglo-French embesiller, meaning "to make away," formed from the prefix en- and the verb besiller, meaning "to steal or plunder." Related to embezzle is bezzle, a verb used in some British English dialects to mean "to waste or plunder" or "to drink or eat to excess."