embezzle
pronunciation
How to pronounce embezzle in British English:
UK [ɪmˈbezl]
How to pronounce embezzle in American English:
US [ɪmˈbezl]
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- Verb:
- appropriate (as property entrusted to one's care) fraudulently to one's own use
Word Origin
- embezzle
- embezzle: [15] Originally, embezzle meant simply ‘steal’: ‘See that no victuals nor no other stuff of the same household be embezzled out’, Household Ordinances 1469. The modern legal sense ‘convert fraudulently’ did not develop until the late 16th century. The word itself comes from Anglo-Norman enbesiler, a compound formed from the intensive prefix en- and the Old French verb besiller, of unknown origin.
- embezzle (v.)
- early 15c., "make away with money or property of another, steal," from Anglo-French enbesiler "to steal, cause to disappear" (c. 1300), from Old French em- (see en- (1)) + besillier "torment, destroy, gouge," which is of unknown origin. Sense of "dispose of fraudulently to one's own use," is first recorded 1580s. Related: Embezzled; embezzling.
Example
- 1. African leaders find it surprisingly hard to embezzle development funds .
- 2. Prosecutors have opened investigations into several bank executives and regulators , accusing them of colluding to embezzle funds and grant illegal loans .
- 3. Corrupt officials often have mistresses and " second wives , " who are often blamed for driving officials to take bribes or embezzle money .
- 4. The fee may be legitimate , but the government may wish to keep it secret , to make it easier to embezzle .
- 5. He alleged that the president the first lady members of the colom administration and their business cronies were using banrural to embezzle and launder money .