thief

Etymology

From Middle English thef, theef, þef, from Old English þēof, from Proto-West Germanic *þeub, from Proto-Germanic *þeubaz. Spelling from Northern England, where /eːo/ became [iə] rather than [eː]. (Compare the spelling of deep from Old English deop.)

noun

  1. One who carries out a theft.
  2. One who steals another person's property, especially by stealth and without using force or violence.
  3. (obsolete) A 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[…] 1640, Joseph Hall, Divine Light

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