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peculate
[ pek-yuh-leyt ]
/ ˈpɛk yəˌleɪt /
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verb (used with or without object), pec·u·lat·ed, pec·u·lat·ing.
to steal or take dishonestly (money, especially public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle.
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Origin of peculate
First recorded in 1740–50; verb use of peculate “embezzlement” (now obsolete), from Latin past participle and noun pecūlātus “embezzled; embezzlement,” equivalent to pecūlā(rī) ) “to embezzle,” literally, “to make public property private” + -tus suffix of verbal action, derivative of pecu “wealth, livestock, movable property”; see origin at peculiar, -ate1
OTHER WORDS FROM peculate
pec·u·la·tion, nounpec·u·la·tor, nounun·pec·u·lat·ing, adjectiveWords nearby peculate
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
How to use peculate in a sentence
No man ever paid a bribe for the handling of the public money, but to peculate from it.
He knows how pedants hoodwink people, how priests act the hypocrite, how physicians act the rake, how lawyers peculate.
The Three Devils: Luther's, Milton's, and Goethe's|David Masson
British Dictionary definitions for peculate
peculate
/ (ˈpɛkjʊˌleɪt) /
verb
to appropriate or embezzle (public money)
Derived forms of peculate
peculation, nounpeculator, nounWord Origin for peculate
C18: from Latin pecūlārī, from pecūlium private property (originally, cattle); see peculiar
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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