purloin

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pɜːˈlɔɪn/ (UK)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English purloinen (“to remove”),^[2][3][4][5] from Anglo-Norman purloigner (“to put off, remove”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from pur- “forth” (from Latin prō-) and loing “far”,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Latin longē, from longus “long”.^[2][3][4][5] Etymonline calls it essentially a doublet of prolong.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To remove, misappropriate or entice away (1348 in Barnhart, mid-14th century in Etymonline).^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The OED's earliest senses are “to put far away” and “to conceal”, both now obsolete.^[7] The sense “to steal”, especially in breach of trust, is an English development of the 1540s.^[4][7]

Timeline

• 1348 – to remove, misappropriate.^[3][4]
• about 1440 – to put far away, now obsolete.^[7]
• 1548 – to steal, especially in breach of trust.^[7][4]
• 1611 – to commit petty theft.^[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To steal, often in breach of trust; to pilfer or filch.
2. To commit theft.

Word family

• purloiner

Related words

• prolong
• long

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press