Etymology

peculation

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Today it means: The wrongful appropriation or embezzlement of shared or public property, usually by a person entrusted with the guardianship of that property. Full definition →

Latin pecūlātiō
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The story

  1. Latin · derived frompecūlātiō“embezzlement”
  2. English todaypeculation

From Latin pecūlātiō (“embezzlement”) from pecūlor (“to defraud the public”), related to pecūlium (“property in cattle, private property”), from pecū (“cattle, money”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.