Etymology

pickpocket

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Today it means: One who steals from the pocket of a passerby, usually by sleight of hand. Full definition →

English pocket ← Middle English pocket ← Anglo-Norman poket
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The story

  1. Englishpick
  2. Proto-Germanic*puhô
  3. Frankish*pokō
  4. Old Frenchpoche
  5. Anglo-Normanpoket
  6. Middle Englishpocket
  7. Englishpocket
  8. English todaypickpocket

From pick + pocket.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.