purloin
[per-loin, pur-loin]
- to take dishonestly; steal; filch; pilfer.
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- to commit theft; steal.
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Origin of purloin
1400–50; late Middle English purloynen < Anglo-French purloigner to put off, remove, equivalent to pur- (< Latin prō- pro-1) + -loigner, derivative of loin at a distance, far off < Latin longē
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for purloin
Contemporary Examples
If a thief gets a load of said bags, he'll pop right out of your mattress and purloin them.
Historical Examples
He broke into outhouses with an axe he managed to purloin in a wood-cutters' camp.
Under Western EyesJoseph Conrad
He must purloin it before then—that very night, if possible.
The Burglars' ClubHenry A. Hering
The great object is to purloin it by force or by fraud from those who have created it.
Harmonies of Political EconomyFrdric Bastiat
I managed to purloin a lantern from the kitchen to light our path.
Our Next-Door NeighborsBelle Kanaris Maniates
Did I not purloin it because I was so high-minded as to want to win a game of chess from you?
Henry VIII And His CourtLouise Muhlbach
purloin
- to take (something) dishonestly; steal
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Word Origin
C15: from Old French porloigner to put at a distance, from por- for + loin distant, from Latin longus long
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for purloin
v.
mid-14c., "remove, misappropriate," from Anglo-French purloigner "remove," Old French porloigner "put off, retard, delay, drag out; be far away," from por- (from Latin pro- "forth;" see pro-) + Old French loing "far," from Latin longe, from longus (see long (adj.)). Sense of "to steal" (1540s) is a development in English. Related: Purloined; purloining.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper