defalcation

Meaning

1. (countable, uncountable) The act of cancelling part of a claim by deducting a smaller claim which the claimant owes to the defendant.
2. (countable, uncountable) Embezzlement.

Synonyms

embezzlement

misappropriation

misapplication

peculation

usurpation

pilferage

larceny

breach of trust

conversion

deficit

appropriation

Translations

Veruntreuung

desfalco

Unterschlagung

υπεξαίρεση

détournement

apropriação

σφετερισμός

appropriazione indebita

verduistering

malversation

détournement de fonds

desfalc

Pronounced as (IPA)

[ˌdɛfəɫˈkeɪʃən]

Etymology

Late 15th century, from Medieval Latin dēfalcātiōnem, accusative singular of dēfalcātiō (literally “cutting off, lopping off with a sickle”), nominalization of dēfalcō, from Latin dē (“off”) + falx (“sickle, scythe, pruning hook”), from which also English falcate (“sickle-shaped”).
By surface analysis, defalcate + -ion (“the act of”).