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purloiner

 - 4 dictionary results

pur⋅loin

  [per-loin, pur-loin]
Use purloiner in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to take dishonestly; steal; filch; pilfer.
–verb (used without object)
2. to commit theft; steal.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME purloynen < AF purloigner to put off, remove, equiv. to pur- (< L prō- pro- 1 ) + -loigner, deriv. of loin at a distance, far off < L longē

Related forms:
pur⋅loin⋅er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To purloiner
pur·loin   (pər-loin', pûr'loin')   
v.   pur·loined, pur·loin·ing, pur·loins

v.   tr.
To steal, often in a violation of trust. See Synonyms at steal.
v.   intr.
To commit theft.

[Middle English purloinen, to remove, from Anglo-Norman purloigner : pur-, away (from Latin prō-; see pro-1) + loign, far (from Latin longē, from longus, long; see del-1 in Indo-European roots).]
pur·loin'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

purloin 
c.1440, "to put far away," from Anglo-Fr. purloigner "remove," from O.Fr. porloigner "put off, retard, delay," from por- (from L. pro- "forth") + O.Fr. loing "far," from L. longe, from longus (see long). Sense of "to steal" (1548) is a development in Eng.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: pur·loin
Pronunciation: p&r-'loin, 'p&r-"loin
Function: transitive verb
: STEAL
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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