thief

English

Alternative forms

• theef

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Germanic *þeubaz

Proto-West Germanic *þeub

Old English þēof

Middle English thef

English thief

From Middle English thef, theef, þef, from Old English þēof, from Proto-West Germanic *þeub, from Proto-Germanic *þeubaz. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tjoof (“thief”), West Frisian tsjeaf (“thief”), Dutch dief (“thief”), Low German Deef, Deev (“thief”), German Dieb (“thief”), Danish tyv (“thief”), Swedish tjuv (“thief”), Icelandic þjófur (“thief”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈθiːf/, [ˈθɪi̯f]

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -iːf
• Hyphenation: thief

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
• cricket thief spider
• cyberthief
• horse thief
• horsethief
• joke thief
• joule thief
• liquor thief
• opportunity makes a thief
• opportunity makes the thief
• outfangthief
• 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
• spellthief
• stop thief
• thick as thieves
• thief ant
• thiefcraft
• thiefdom
• thiefess
• thiefhood
• thief in law
• thief in the night
• thief knot
• thiefless
• thieflike
• thiefly
• thiefness
• thief palm
• thiefproof
• thiefship
• thief-taker
• thief tube
• thiefwise
• thiefy
• thievish
• time thief
• Unithieves
• wage thief
• water-thief
• wheat thief
• wine thief

Related terms

• theft
• thieve

Translations

one who carries out theft

• Abkhaz: аӷьычҩы (ağʲəčjʷə)
• Afrikaans: dief (af)
• Albanian: vjedhës (sq) m, vjedhëse (sq) f
• Altai:

  Southern Altai: уур (uur)

• 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 (bor), уғры (oğrı), ҡараҡ (qaraq)
• Basque: lapur, ebasle
• Belarusian: зло́дзей m (zlódzjej), зладзе́йка f (zladzjéjka)
• Bengali: চোর (bn) (cōr)
• Bikol:

  Central Bikol: 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, mbala class 9, mnkhungu class 1
• 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
• Comorian:

  Ngazidja Comorian: mwidzi class 1/2

• 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 Greek: 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), दुज़्द m (duzd), दुज्द (hi) m (dujd), सारिक़ m (sāriq), सारिक (hi) m (sārik), सारिक़ा f (sāriqā), सारिका (hi) f (sārikā) (female, nuqta-less)
• Hungarian: tolvaj (hu)
• Icelandic: þjófur (is) m
• 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 (ks) (ċūr)
• Kazakh: ұры (urı)
• Khmer: ចោរ (km) (cao)
• Kikuyu: mũici class 1
• Kituba: muyibi
• Komi:

  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

  Latin: 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
• Māori: kaiā, tāhae, whānako
• Mapudungun: weñefe
• Marathi: चोर m or f (cor)
• Mauritian Creole: voler
• Middle English: thef
• Mirandese: lhadron m
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: хулгайч (mn) (xulgaič), хулгай (mn) (xulgai)

  Mongolian script: ᠬᠤᠯᠠᠭᠠᠢᠢᠴᠢ (qulaɣayiiči), 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)
• 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
• Pannonian Rusyn: крадош m (kradoš), крадошка f (kradoška)
• Pashto: غل (ps) m (ǧal)
• Persian:

  Dari: دُزْد (duzd)

  Iranian Persian: دُزْد (dozd), حَرامی (harâmi) (dated), سارِق (fa) (sâreġ)

• 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
• Romansh: 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

  Latin: 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

• 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) class I, mnyang'anyi (sw) class I/II
• Swedish: tjuv (sv) c
• Tabasaran: угъри (uġri)
• Tagalog: magnanakaw
• Tajik: дузд (tg) (duzd), сориқ (soriq)
• 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), harami (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: اوغری (oğrı), خرسز (hırsız), حرامی (harami)

• Turkmen: ogry
• Tuvan: оор (oor)
• Ukrainian: зло́дій m (zlódij), зло́дійка f (zlódijka), краді́й (uk) m (kradíj), краді́йка (uk) f (kradíjka)
• Ulithian: choamwacchog
• Urdu: چور m (cor), دُزْد m (duzd), سارِق m (sāriq), سارِقَہ f (sāriqa) (female)
• Uyghur: ئوغرى (oghri)
• Uzbek: oʻgʻri (uz), duzd (uz) (archaic)
• 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
• Woiwurrung: be at tangi
• Yao (Africa): jwawiyi class 1
• Yazghulami: дәзд (dəzd)
• Yiddish: גנבֿ m (ganev), גנבֿטע f (ganevte)
• Yucatec Maya: ookol
• Zazaki: tırıter c, xırxız c

Anagrams

• feith, theif

Middle English

Noun

thief

1. (MS. Fairfax 3) 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.