Etymology

bezzle

B3E1Z10Z10L1E1

Today it means: To plunder; to lay waste to, in riot. Full definition →

Middle English besilen ← Old French besiler
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

bezzle · verb1

  1. Old French · derived frombesiler
  2. Middle English · inherited frombesilen
  3. English todaybezzle

From Middle English besilen, from Old French besiler, besillier (“to mistreat, pillage”); or shortened from English embezzle.

bezzle · noun2

Coined by John Kenneth Galbraith, from embezzle.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.