Thief
/θiːf/noun
A person who steals another person's property.
Did you know?The root behind *thief* is tied to Proto-Germanic *þeubaz*, which also gave us words for theft across Germanic languages, showing how old societies encoded stealing as a social and legal violation.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*tewp-
“to swell, puff up”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*þeubaz
“a thief; one who steals”
Old English
OE
þēof
“thief, robber”
Middle English
English
thef, thief
“a thief; a robber”
Modern English
English
thief
“a person who steals”