thief

English

Alternative forms

• theef

Etymology

From Middle English thef, theef, þef, from Old English þēof, from Proto-West Germanic *þeub, from Proto-Germanic *þeubaz.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: thēf, IPA^(key): /θiːf/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /θif/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːf

Noun

thief (plural thieves)

1. One who carries out a theft.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:thief

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

     water-thieves and land-thieves

2. One who steals another person's property, especially by stealth and without using force or violence.
   • 1878, Thomas Tusser, “74. A Digression.”, in Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. […], London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., […], →OCLC; republished as W[illiam] Payne, Sidney J[ohn Hervon] Herrtage, editors, Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. […], London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., […], 1878, →OCLC, stanza 4, page 166:

     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. (obsolete) A waster in the snuff of a candle.
   • 1640, Joseph Hall, Divine Light:

     But hear you, my Worthy Brethren: do not you, where you see a thief in the candle, call presently for an extinguisher […]

Hypernyms

• (one who carries out a theft): See Thesaurus:criminal

Hyponyms

• burglar
• cat burglar
• mugger
• pickpocket
• robber

Derived terms

• a fair booty makes many a thief
• comparison is the thief of joy
• horse thief
• joke thief
• joule thief
• liquor thief
• opportunity makes a thief
• opportunity makes the thief
• oxygen thief
• palm thief
• panel thief
• police and thief
• procrastination is the thief of time
• sampling thief
• set a thief to catch a thief
• sneak thief
• stop thief
• thick as thieves
• thief ant
• thiefdom
• thief in law
• thief in the night
• thief knot
• thieflike
• thiefly
• thief palm
• thief-taker
• thief tube
• thievish
• time thief
• wage thief
• water-thief
• wheat thief
• wine thief

Related terms

• thieve

Translations

one who carries out theft

• Abkhaz: аӷьычҩы (ağʲəčjʷə)
• Afrikaans: dief (af)
• Albanian: vjedhës (sq) m, vjedhëse (sq) f
• Amharic: ሌባ (am) (leba)
• Arabic: لِصّ m (liṣṣ), لِصَّة f (liṣṣa), سَارِق (ar) m (sāriq), سَارِقَة f (sāriqa), حَرَامِيّ m (ḥarāmiyy), حَرَامِيَّة f (ḥarāmiyya)

  Egyptian Arabic: حرامى m (ḥarāmi)

  Gulf Arabic: بايق m (bāyeg)

  Hijazi Arabic: حرامي m (ḥarāmi), سَرَّاق m (sarrāg)

  Moroccan Arabic: سراق m (sarrāq), شفار f (šaffār)

• Aragonese: furtaire m
• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܓܢܒܐ m (gannāβā, gannoβo), ܓܢܒܬܐ f (gannāβ​θā, gannoβ​θo)

• Archi: цӏогьор (cʼohor)
• Armenian: գող (hy) (goġ)
• Aromanian: fur m, furcudar, haramiu, chisãgi, caceac
• Assamese: চোৰ (sür)
• Asturian: lladrón m
• Avar: цӏогьор (cʼohor)
• Azerbaijani: oğru (az)
• Baluchi: دز
• Bashkir: бур (bur), уғры (uğrı), ҡараҡ (qaraq)
• Basque: lapur, ebasle
• Belarusian: зло́дзей m (zlódzjej), зладзе́йка f (zladzjéjka)
• Bengali: চোর (bn) (cōr)
• Bikol Central: paraikit
• Breton: laer (br) m
• Bulgarian: краде́ц (bg) m (kradéc), арами́я m (aramíja) (dated), арами́йка f (aramíjka)
• Burmese: သူခိုး (my) (suhkui:)
• Catalan: lladre (ca) m
• Cebuano: kawatan
• Chakma: 𑄌𑄪𑄢𑄴 (cur)
• Chamicuro: ma'koleti
• Chechen: къу (qʼu)
• Cherokee: ᎦᏃᏍᎩᏍᎩ (ganosgisgi)
• Chichewa: wákúbá class 1, nkhumbzi class 9
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 賊 / 贼 (caak^6-2)

  Dungan: зый (zɨy), вэзый (vezɨy)

  Gan: 賊 / 贼 (cet⁷)

  Hakka: 賊仔 / 贼仔 (chhe̍t-é)

  Hokkien: 賊仔 / 贼仔 (zh-min-nan) (chha̍t-á), 勍仔 (zh-min-nan) (khiang-á)

  Mandarin: 賊 / 贼 (zh) (zéi), 盜賊 / 盗贼 (zh) (dàozéi), 小偷 (zh) (xiǎotōu), 宵小 (zh) (xiāoxiǎo), 竊賊 / 窃贼 (zh) (qièzéi)

  Northern Min: 賊 / 贼 (chā̤)

  Wu: 賊骨頭 / 贼骨头, 賊 / 贼 (⁸zeq)

• Chuvash: вӑрӑ (vără)
• Cimbrian: diip m
• Cornish: lader m, ladres f
• Corsican: latru (co) m
• Czech: zloděj (cs) m, zlodějka (cs) f
• Danish: tyv (da) c, tyveknægt c (male)
• Dutch: dief (nl) m, dievegge (nl) f, gannef (nl) m
• Egyptian: (ꜥwꜣy), (jṯꜣ)
• Emilian: please add this translation if you can
• Esperanto: ŝtelisto (eo)
• Estonian: varas (et)
• Ewe: fiafi n, fiafitɔ n
• Extremaduran: please add this translation if you can
• Faroese: tjóvur m
• Finnish: varas (fi), voro (fi), ryöväri (fi), rosvo (fi)
• Franco-Provençal: lârro m
• French: voleur (fr) m, voleuse (fr) f
• Frisian:

  North Frisian: tiif m (Föhr-Amrum)

• Friulian: lari m
• Galician: ladrón m, lespio m, galafate m, ladroeiro m, gallofo m, regatiñeiro m, surpón m
• Gallo: please add this translation if you can
• Georgian: ქურდი (kurdi)
• German: Dieb (de) m, Diebin (de) f
• Gothic: 𐌷𐌻𐌹𐍆𐍄𐌿𐍃 m (hliftus), 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐍆𐍃 m (þiufs)
• Greek: κλέφτης (el) m (kléftis)

  Ancient: κλέπτης m (kléptēs), κλώψ m (klṓps), φώρ m (phṓr)

• Gujarati: દસ્યુ m (dasyu)
• Hebrew: גַּנָּב (he) m (ganáv)
• Hiligaynon: kawatan
• Hindi: चोर (hi) m (cor)
• Hungarian: tolvaj (hu)
• Icelandic: þjófur (is)
• Ido: furtanto (io)
• Ilocano: mannanakaw
• Indonesian: pencuri (id)
• Ingrian: varas
• Ingush: къу (qʼu)
• Irish: gadaí (ga) m
• Isoko: oji
• Istriot: laro m
• Italian: ladro (it) m, ladra (it) f, ladruncolo m, borsaiolo (it) m, scippatore (it) m, mariolo (it) m, taccheggiatore (it), malandrino (it) m, borseggiatore (it)
• Japanese: 泥棒 (ja) (どろぼう, dorobō), 盗賊 (ja) (とうぞく, tōzoku), 窃盗者 (せっとうしゃ, settō-sha)
• Javanese: maling (jv), bajingan (jv) (pejorative)
• Kalmyk: хулхач (xulxaç)
• Kannada: ಕಳ್ಳ (kn) (kaḷḷa)
• Kashmiri: ژوٗر (ċūr)
• Kazakh: ұры (ūry)
• Khmer: ចោរ (km) (cao)
• Kikuyu: mũici class 1
• Kituba: muyibi
• Komi-Permyak: гусь (guś)
• Kongo: mwivi
• Korean: 도둑 (ko) (doduk), 도적(盜賊) (ko) (dojeok)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: دز (ckb) (diz)

  Northern Kurdish: diz (ku), dizîker (ku) m or f

• Kyrgyz: ууру (ky) (uuru)
• Ladin: lère m
• Ladino:

  Hebrew: לאד׳רון m

  Roman: ladrón m, ladhron m

• Lao: ກະໂມຽ (ka mōi), ຂະໂມຍ (lo) (kha mōi), ໂຈນ (chōn)
• Latin: fūr (la) m or f, latro (la) m
• Latvian: zaglis m, zagle f
• Laz: mamxire
• Leonese: please add this translation if you can
• Lezgi: угъри (uġri)
• Ligurian: laddro m
• Lingala: moyibi, moibi
• Lithuanian: vagis m, vagė f
• Livonian: salāj
• Lombard: lader (lmo) m
• Low German: Deef m
• Luxembourgish: Déif (lb) m
• Macedonian: крадец (mk) m (kradec), крадачка f (kradačka), (poetic) арамија m (aramija), арамијка f (aramijka)
• Malagasy: kary (mg), fangalarina (mg)
• Malay: pencuri (ms)
• Malayalam: കള്ളൻ (ml) (kaḷḷaṉ), മോഷ്ടാവ് (ml) (mōṣṭāvŭ)
• Maltese: ħalliel m
• Maori: kaiā, tāhae, whānako
• Mapudungun: weñefe
• Marathi: चोर m or f (cor)
• Middle English: thef
• Mirandese: lhadron m
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: хулгайч (mn) (xulgajč), хулгай (mn) (xulgaj)

  Mongolian: ᠬᠤᠯᠠᠭᠠᠢᠢᠴᠢ (qulaɣaiiči), ᠬᠤᠯᠠᠭᠠᠢ (qulaɣai)

• Mwani: mwivi
• Nanai: чово (čowo)
• Navajo: aniʼįįhii
• Neapolitan: latro m, mariuólo m, mariunciéllo m, ferraiuólo m, màneco 'ancino m
• Nepali: चोर (ne) (cor)
• Ngazidja Comorian: mwidzi class 1/2
• Ngombe (Congo): moibi
• Nigerian Pidgin: tiff
• Norman: voleux m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tyv (no) m, tjuv (no) m

  Nynorsk: tjuv m

• Occitan: raubaire (oc) m, raubaira (oc) f, laire (oc) m, laira (oc) f
• Odia: ଚୋର (or) (cora)
• Ojibwe: gimoodishk
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: татъ m (tatŭ), зълодѣи m (zŭloděi)

• Old English: þēof m
• Old Norse: þjófr m
• Oromo: hattuu
• Ottoman Turkish: اوغری (oğrı), خرسز (hırsız), حرامی (harami)
• Pannonian Rusyn: крадош m (kradoš), крадошка f (kradoška)
• Pashto: غل (ps) m (ǧal)
• Persian:

  Dari: دُزْد (duzd)

  Iranian Persian: دُزْد (dozd), حَرامی (harâmi) (dated)

• Phoenician: 𐤀𐤂𐤓𐤃 pl (ʾgrd)
• Piedmontese: làder m
• Polish: złodziej (pl) m, złodziejka (pl) f
• Portuguese: ladrão (pt) m, ladra (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਚੋਰ m (cor)
• Quechua: suwa
• Rohingya: sur
• Romagnol: lêdar m
• Romani: ćor m
• Romanian: hoț (ro) m, hoață (ro) f
• Romansch: lader m, leder m
• Russian: вор (ru) m (vor), воро́вка (ru) f (voróvka), ворю́га (ru) m or f (vorjúga) (disparaging), вори́шка (ru) m or f (voríška) (petty thief, colloquial)
• Sanskrit: चोर (sa) m (cora), चोरी (sa) f (corī)
• Scots: thief
• Scottish Gaelic: mèirleach m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ло́пов m, та̏т m, кра̀дљивац m, хара̀мија m

  Roman: lópov (sh) m, tȁt (sh) m, kràdljivac (sh) m, haràmija (sh) m

• Sicilian: latru (scn) m, latruni (scn) m, larruni (scn) m
• Sidamo: mooraancho
• Sikkimese: རྐུན་ཅན (rkun can)
• Sinhalese: හොරා (horā)
• Slovak: zlodej (sk) m, zlodejka f
• Slovene: tat (sl) m, tatica f
• Somali: tuug (so)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: złoźej m

  Upper Sorbian: paduch m

• Southern Altai: уур (uur)
• Spanish: ladrón (es) m, caco (es) m (colloquial), chorizo (es) m (colloquial), mangante (es) m (colloquial), amigo de lo ajeno (es) (colloquial), chori (es) m or f, shacador m (Argentina), chorifaite m or f (Peru)
• Sundanese: maling
• Svan: ქუ̂ით (kûit)
• Swahili: mwizi (sw), mnyang'anyi (sw) class 1/2
• Swedish: tjuv (sv) c
• Tabasaran: угъри (uġri)
• Tagalog: magnanakaw
• Tajik: дузд (tg) (duzd)
• Talysh: دزد (dəzd)
• Tamil: திருடன் (ta) m (tiruṭaṉ), திருடி (ta) f (tiruṭi), திருடர் c (tiruṭar), கள்ளன் (ta) m (kaḷḷaṉ), கள்ளி (ta) f (kaḷḷi), கள்ளர் (ta) c (kaḷḷar)
• Taos: tràmpiʼína
• Tarantino: please add this translation if you can
• Tatar: карак (tt) (qaraq)
• Telugu: దొంగ (te) (doṅga)
• Thai: ขโมย (th) (kà-mooi), โจร (th) (joon)
• Tibetan: རྐུ་མ (rku ma)
• Tocharian B: lyak m
• Tok Pisin: raskol
• Turkish: hırsız (tr), uğru (tr); kuldur (tr) (regional), karak (tr) (regional)
• Turkmen: ogry
• Tuvan: оор (oor)
• Ukrainian: зло́дій m (zlódij), зло́дійка f (zlódijka), краді́й (uk) m (kradíj), краді́йка (uk) f (kradíjka)
• Urdu: چور m (cor), دُزْد m (duzd)
• Uyghur: ئوغرى (oghri)
• Uzbek: oʻgʻri (uz)
• Venetan: laro m, ladro m, ladron m
• Vietnamese: kẻ trộm, kẻ cắp, kẻ ăn trộm
• Vilamovian: dīb
• Volapük: (♂♀) tifan (vo), (♂) hitifan, (♀) jitifan (vo)
• Walloon: voleu (wa) m, voleuse (wa) f, volresse (wa) f
• Waray-Waray: buyon
• Welsh: lleidr (cy) m, lladron (cy) m pl
• Woiwurrung: be at tangi
• Yao: jwawiyi class 1
• Yiddish: גנבֿ m (ganev), גנבֿטע f (ganevte)
• Yucatec Maya: ookol
• Zazaki: tırıter c, xırxız c

Anagrams

• feith, theif

Middle English

Noun

thief

1. (Gower) alternative form of thef

Scots

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Scots theif, thef, from Middle English thef, from Old English þēof, from Proto-West Germanic *þeub, from Proto-Germanic *þeubaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θif/

Noun

thief (plural thiefs or thieves)

1. A thief (one who steals, especially stealthily).
   • 1983, William Lorimer, transl., The New Testament in Scots, Edinburgh: Canongate, published 2001, →ISBN, →OCLC, John 10:10, page 179:

     "The thíef comesna for ocht but tae steal an fell an destroy: I am come at they may hae life—ay, an rowth, an mair o it!"

     "The thief doesn't come except to steal, kill, and destroy: I have come so they can have life abundantly, and more of it!"

2. A criminal or villain; a malicious or lawbreaking person.