PECULATION

embezzlement, peculation, defalcation, misapplication, misappropriation

(noun) the fraudulent appropriation of funds or property entrusted to your care but actually owned by someone else

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

peculation (countable and uncountable, plural peculations)

(legal, chiefly, historical) The wrongful appropriation or embezzlement of shared or public property, usually by a person entrusted with the guardianship of that property.

Usage notes

• Embezzlement is the usual term used for this crime in modern laws.

Anagrams

• cupelation, unpoetical

Source: Wiktionary


Pec`u*la"tion, n.

Definition: The act or practice of peculating, or of defrauding the public by appropriating to one's own use the money or goods intrusted to one's care for management or disbursement; embezzlement. Every British subject . . . active in the discovery of peculations has been ruined. Burke.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

25 June 2025

DETENTION

(noun) a state of being confined (usually for a short time); “his detention was politically motivated”; “the prisoner is on hold”; “he is in the custody of police”


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