em·bez·zle (ěm-běz'əl) tr.v.
em·bez·zled, em·bez·zling, em·bez·zles To take (money, for example) for one's own use in violation of a trust.
[Middle English embesilen, from Anglo-Norman enbesiler : Old French en-, intensive pref.; see en-1 + Old French besillier, to ravage.] em·bez'zle·ment n., em·bez'zler n.
1469, from Anglo-Fr. embesiler "to steal, cause to disappear" (1305), from O.Fr. besillier "torment, destroy, gouge," of unknown origin. Sense of "to dispose of fraudulently" is first recorded 1585.
Main Entry: em·bez·zle Pronunciation: im-'be-z&l Function: transitive verb Inflected Forms: em·bez·zled; em·bez·zling Etymology: Anglo-French embeseiller to make away with, from en-, prefix stressing completion + beseller to snatch, misappropriate, from Old French, to destroy : to convert (property entrusted to one's care) fraudulently to one's own use —compare DEFALCATE —em·bez·zle·mentnoun —em·bez·zlernoun