Meanings
plural thefts
- countableuncountableThe act of stealing property.
resource theft
4 more examples
Bike theft is on the rise.
A suspect was arrested for the theft of a gold necklace.
If you steal a candy bar, you are guilty of theft, regardless of the value. You can't fudge the theft by saying, "But it was only a candy bar," or "I didn't steal it from a person, but from a rich corporation," or "Everyone steals from the government."
2007 July 5, Charles Hugh Smith, When Lies Become Normal, Is Truth Dead or Just in Hiding?, archived from the original on 12 Feb 2025That last problem did intrude on Hazzard’s roamings, and when she refers to the living city it is with periodic references to thefts of cars and wallets, with a warning not to carry anything “snatchable” by the thieves on motorcycles who whiz through the streets.
2009 February 15, Judith Martin, “It Started in Naples”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 16 Jun 2022Synonyms: bargain, burglary, larceny, heist, give-away, pinching, robbery, steal
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe act of stealing property.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe act of taking something from someone unlawfully
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*þiubīþō“theft”
- Proto-West Germanic*þiubīþu
- Old Englishþīefþ
- Middle Englishtheft
- Englishtheft
From Middle English theft, thefte, þefte, þefþe, þiefþe, Old English þīefþ, from Proto-West Germanic *þiubīþu, from Proto-Germanic *þiubīþō (“theft”), from *þiubijaną (“to thieve, steal”), equivalent to thieve + -t (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with West Frisian tsjeafte (“theft”), dialectal Dutch diefte (“theft”), obsolete German Diebde (“theft”), Icelandic þýfð (“theft”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans diefstal
- diefstalact of stealing property
Ancient Greek κλοπή
- κλοπή (klopḗ)act of stealing property
Arabic سَرِقَة, سَرَقَة
- سَرِقَة (sariqa)act of stealing property
- سَرَقَة (saraqa)act of stealing property
- سَرْق (sarq)act of stealing property
- سَرَق (saraq)act of stealing property
- سَرِق (sariq)act of stealing property
- نَهْب (nahb)act of stealing property
Bengali চুরি
- চুরি (curi)act of stealing property
Bulgarian кра́жба
- кра́жба (krážba)act of stealing property
Catalan furt
- furtact of stealing property
Chinese Cantonese 盜竊 /盗窃
- 盜竊 /盗窃 (dou⁶ sit³)act of stealing property
Chinese Mandarin 盜竊 /盗窃
- 盜竊 /盗窃 (dàoqiè)act of stealing property
Czech krádež
- krádežact of stealing property
Danish tyveri, ran
- tyveriact of stealing property
- ranact of stealing property
- styldact of stealing property
- tyvnedact of stealing property
Dutch diefstal, dieverij
- diefstalact of stealing property
- dieverijact of stealing property
Esperanto ŝtelado
- ŝteladoact of stealing property
Estonian vargus
- vargusact of stealing property
Finnish varkaus
- varkausact of stealing property
French vol
- volact of stealing property
German Diebstahl
- Diebstahlact of stealing property
Greek κλοπή
- κλοπή (klopí)act of stealing property
Hebrew גְּנֵבָה, גָּזֵל
- גְּנֵבָה (gnevá)act of stealing property
- גָּזֵל (gazél)act of stealing property
Hindi चोरी
- चोरी (corī)act of stealing property
Hungarian lopás
- lopásact of stealing property
Icelandic þjófnaður
- þjófnaðuract of stealing property
Indonesian pencurian
- pencurianact of stealing property
Irish goid
- goidact of stealing property
Italian furto
- furtoact of stealing property
Japanese 盗み, 窃盗
- 盗み (nusumi)act of stealing property
- 窃盗 (settō)act of stealing property
- 盗難 (tōnan)act of stealing property
Korean 도둑질, 절도
- 도둑질 (dodukjil)act of stealing property
- 절도 (jeoldo)act of stealing property
- 훔침 (humchim)act of stealing property
Latin furtum
- furtumact of stealing property
Latvian zādzība
- zādzībaact of stealing property
Lithuanian vagystė
- vagystėact of stealing property
Malay pencurian
- pencurianact of stealing property
Māori whānako
- whānakoact of stealing property
Norwegian Bokmål tyveri, tjuveri
- tyveriact of stealing property
- tjuveriact of stealing property
Polish kradzież
- kradzieżact of stealing property
Portuguese roubo, furto
- rouboact of stealing property
- furtoact of stealing property
Romanian furt
- furtact of stealing property
Russian кра́жа, воровство́
- кра́жа (kráža)act of stealing property
- воровство́ (vorovstvó)act of stealing property
- хище́ние (xiščénije)act of stealing property
- уго́н (ugón)act of stealing property
Scottish Gaelic meirle, gadachd
- meirleact of stealing property
- gadachdact of stealing property
- goidact of stealing property
Slovak krádež, lúpež
- krádežact of stealing property
- lúpežact of stealing property
Spanish robo, hurto
- roboact of stealing property
- hurtoact of stealing property
- furtoact of stealing property
- choreoact of stealing property
- shacamentoact of stealing property
Swahili wizi
- wiziact of stealing property
Swedish stöld, tjuvande
- stöldact of stealing property
- tjuvandeact of stealing property
- tjuveriact of stealing property
- tjuftact of stealing property
Tagalog pagnanakaw
- pagnanakawact of stealing property
Tamil திருட்டு, களவு
- திருட்டு (tiruṭṭu)act of stealing property
- களவு (kaḷavu)act of stealing property
Thai โจรกรรม, การลักทรัพย์
- โจรกรรม (joo-rá-gam)act of stealing property
- การลักทรัพย์ (gaan-lák-sáp)act of stealing property
- การลัก (gaan-lák)act of stealing property
Turkish soygun, hırsızlık
- soygunact of stealing property
- hırsızlıkact of stealing property
- çalmaact of stealing property
Ukrainian краді́жка, покра́жа
- краді́жка (kradížka)act of stealing property
- покра́жа (pokráža)act of stealing property
- кра́діж (krádiž)act of stealing property
Urdu چوری, سَرْقَت
- چوری (corī)act of stealing property
- سَرْقَت (sarqat)act of stealing property
- دُزْدی (duzdī)act of stealing property
- سَرْقَہ (sarqa)act of stealing property
Vietnamese sự trộm cắp, sự ăn trộm
- sự trộm cắpact of stealing property
- sự ăn trộmact of stealing property
Welsh lladrad
- lladradact of stealing property
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with theft
All rhymes →Cite this entry
theft. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/theft
“theft.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/theft. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “theft,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/theft.
Source: theft on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.