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



RESET




Word of the Day

3 April 2025

WHOLE

(noun) an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; “how big is that part compared to the whole?”; “the team is a unit”


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

In 1511, leaders in Mecca believed coffee stimulated radical thinking and outlawed the drink. In 1524, the leaders overturned that order, and people could drink coffee again.

coffee icon