Dictionary

embezzle en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• audio Brisbane
• /ɛmˈbɛz.əl/ (Canada, US)
• /əmˈbɛz.əl/ weak vowel merger
• /ɪmˈbɛz.əl/ (Canada, US)
• /ɪmˈbɛz.əl/ (UK)
• /ɪmˈbez.əl/ (Australia)

Etymology

From Middle English embesilen, from Anglo-Norman embesiler, embesillier, embeseillier (“to steal, cause to disappear”), from em- + Old French besillier (“to torment, destroy, gouge”), of unknown origin.

Meanings

1. To steal or misappropriate money that one has been trusted with, especially to steal money from the organisation for which one works.
   • You let Dunsey have it, sir? And how long have you been so thick with Dunsey that you must collogue with him to embezzle my money? 1861, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC:
   • You waste your education in burglary. You should do one of two things. Either you should forge or you should embezzle. For my own part, I embezzle. 1903, H. G. Wells, “Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation”, in Twelve Stories and a Dream:
   • A major accident and embezzlement of its funds seem to have been the only disasters it escaped; and as to the latter, the most probable reason is that it never had any quantity of funds worth embezzling. 1959 October 14, Michael Robbins, “The Isle of Wight (Newport Junction) Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 721:

Forms

Deriveds

unembezzled · embezzler · embezzlement

Synonyms

defalcate · peculate · skim · have one's hand in the till · misappropriate

Translations (48)

scn ntascàrisi (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · nrf cabochi des sous (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · es festinar (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · pt desviar (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · hu sikkaszt (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · fi kavaltaa (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · ca malversar (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · nl verduisteren (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · no underslå (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · fr détourner (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · hu elsikkaszt (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · scn ntascari (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · hu hűtlenül kezel (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · sv förskingra (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · cmn 私吞 (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · it commettere peculato (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · ar اِخْتَلَسَ (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · cy embeslo (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · ru расхи́тить (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · da begå underslæb (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · ru присва́ивать (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · de veruntreuen (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · pl sprzeniewierzyć (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · tr zimmetine geçirmek (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · bg злоупотребявам (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · eo malversacii (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · de unterschlagen (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · sq përvetësoj (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · ota خرسزلامق (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · ru расхища́ть (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · sh отуђити (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · la pecūlor (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · cs zpronevěřit (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · cmn 挪用 (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · sh otuđiti (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · ar غَلَّ (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · es defalcar (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · th ยักยอก (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · el υπεξαιρώ (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · it malversare (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · ga cúigleáil (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · es desfalcar (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · ko 횡령하다 (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · az mənimsəmək (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · es malversar (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · ru присво́ить (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · fr divertir (to steal money that one has been trusted with) · he מעל (to steal money that one has been trusted with)