thief
nouncommon in dialogue
- //ˈθiːf//
- /[ˈθɪi̯f]/
One who carries out a theft.
noun
- 1
One who carries out a theft.
water-thieves and land-thieves
- 2
One who steals another person's property, especially by stealth and without using force or violence.
Take heed to false harlots, and more, ye wot what. / If noise ye heare, / Looke all be cleare: / Least drabs doe noie thee, / And theeues destroie thee.
- 3
obsoleteA waster in the snuff of a candle.
But hear you, my Worthy Brethren: do not you, where you see a thief in the candle, call presently for an extinguisher[…]
Etymology
From Middle English thef, theef, þef, from Old English þēof, from Proto-West Germanic *þeub, from Proto-Germanic *þeubaz. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tjoof (“thief”), West Frisian tsjeaf (“thief”), Dutch dief (“thief”), Low German Deef, Deev (“thief”), German Dieb (“thief”), Danish tyv (“thief”), Swedish tjuv (“thief”), Icelandic þjófur (“thief”).
Forms
- plural
- thieves