thief
pronunciation
How to pronounce thief in British English:
UK [θiːf]
How to pronounce thief in American English:
US [θiːf]
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- Noun:
- a criminal who takes property belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping it or selling it
Word Origin
- thief
- thief: [OE] Thief goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *theubaz, which also produced German dieb, Dutch dief, Swedish tjuf, and Danish tyv. It is not clear where this came from, although it might be related to Lithuanian tupeti ‘cower, squat’ and Latvian tupt ‘squat’, in which case it would denote etymologically ‘crouching, furtive person’. From *theubaz was derived *thiūbithō, ancestor of modern English theft.=> theft
- thief (n.)
- Old English þeof "thief, robber," from Proto-Germanic *theubaz (cognates: Old Frisian thiaf, Old Saxon thiof, Middle Dutch and Dutch dief, Old High German diob, German dieb, Old Norse þiofr, Gothic þiufs), of uncertain origin.
Example
- 1. We learn that cats can symbolise a thief 's pedigree .
- 2. It is an intruder and a thief .
- 3. These may not put off a determined thief but are enough to slow down an opportunist , said mr vollaard .
- 4. So , dream thief mr. cobb , what about your job is science fiction and what 's science ?
- 5. A thief cannot evade conviction by arguing that he had a good reason to steal .