Search results
- Dictionarypeculate/ˈpɛkjʊleɪt/
verb
- 1. embezzle or steal (money, especially public funds): formal "the people accused them of having peculated the public money"
Powered by Oxford Dictionaries
Peculate definition: to steal or take dishonestly (money, especially public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle.. See examples of PECULATE used in a sentence.
noun. peculator. ˈpe-kyə-ˌlā-tər. noun. Word History. Etymology. Latin peculatus, past participle of peculari, from peculium. First Known Use. 1617, in the meaning defined above. Time Traveler. The first known use of peculate was in 1617. See more words from the same year. Dictionary Entries Near peculate. peculate. peculiar.
To peculate is, of course, illegal — if you're caught, you can serve jail time. Peculate comes from the Latin word peculium, meaning private property, which itself has the root pecu, or cattle, so the literal meaning of peculium is "property in cattle."
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023 How to use peculate in a sentence No man ever paid a bribe for the handling of the public money, but to peculate from it.
noun. peculator (ˈpecuˌlator) noun. Word origin. C18: from Latin pecūlārī, from pecūlium private property (originally, cattle); see peculiar. Word Frequency. peculate in American English. (ˈpɛkjuˌleɪt ; ˈpɛkjəˌleɪt ) verb transitive, verb intransitive Word forms: ˈpecuˌlated or ˈpecuˌlating.
Define peculate. peculate synonyms, peculate pronunciation, peculate translation, English dictionary definition of peculate. tr. & intr.v. pec·u·lat·ed , pec·u·lat·ing , pec·u·lates To embezzle or engage in embezzlement. pec′u·la′tion n. pec′u·la′tor n. American Heritage®...
to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle. Latin pecūlātus, equivalent. to pecūlā ( rī) to embezzle, literally, to make public property private + -tus suffix of verb, verbal action. See peculiar, - ate1. verb, verbal use of peculate embezzlement (now obsolete) 1740–50. pec′u•la′tion, n.
PECULATION definition: the act of illegally taking or using money, especially public money, that you are responsible for…. Learn more.
A complete guide to the word "PECULATE": definitions, pronunciations, synonyms, grammar insights, collocations, examples, and translations.
peculate. verb. /ˈpɛkjʊleɪt/ IPA. Dictionary definition of peculate. To embezzle or steal money or property, particularly funds that have been entrusted to someone's care or management. "The accountant was caught attempting to peculate funds from the company." Detailed meaning of peculate.
