Etymology

thief

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Today it means: One who carries out a theft. Full definition →

Middle English thef ← Old English þēof ← Proto-West Germanic *þeub
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic*þeubaz
  2. Proto-West Germanic*þeub
  3. Old Englishþēof
  4. Middle Englishthef
  5. English todaythief

From Middle English thef, theef, þef, from Old English þēof, from Proto-West Germanic *þeub, from Proto-Germanic *þeubaz. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tjoof (“thief”), West Frisian tsjeaf (“thief”), Dutch dief (“thief”), Low German Deef, Deev (“thief”), German Dieb (“thief”), Danish tyv (“thief”), Swedish tjuv (“thief”), Icelandic þjófur (“thief”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.