embezzle
[ em-bez-uhl ]
/ ɛmˈbɛz əl /
verb (used with object), em·bez·zled, em·bez·zling.
to appropriate fraudulently to one's own use, as money or property entrusted to one's care.
RELATED WORDS
misappropriate, pilfer, purloin, filch, appropriate, skim, misuse, loot, abstract, thieve, misapply, forge, peculate, defalcate
Nearby words
- ember days,
- ember goose,
- ember week,
- embergoose,
- emberizine,
- embezzlement,
- embezzler,
- embiid,
- embiotocid,
- embitter
Origin of embezzle
1375–1425; late Middle English embesilen < Anglo-French embeseiller to destroy, make away with, equivalent to em- em-1 + beseiller, Old French beseiller to destroy < ?
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for embezzle
embezzle
/ (ɪmˈbɛzəl) /
verb
to convert (money or property entrusted to one) fraudulently to one's own use
Word Origin for embezzle
C15: from Anglo-French embeseiller to destroy, from Old French beseiller to make away with, of uncertain origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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embezzle
early 15c., from Anglo-French embesiler "to steal, cause to disappear" (c.1300), from Old French em- (see en- (1)) + besillier "torment, destroy, gouge," of unknown origin. Sense of "to dispose of fraudulently" is first recorded 1580s. Related: Embezzled; embezzling.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper