Standard Lemma guide

thieve

verb · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • thēv
  • /θiːv/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -iːv
  • CMU ARPABET: TH IY1 V Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To commit theft.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

take by theft

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Someone snitched my wallet!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hook, snitch, cop, knock off, glom

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: steal

History

Etymology

From Middle English *theven [found in Middle English thevinge (“thieving”)], from Old English þēofian, ġeþēofian, ġeþīefian (“to thieve, steal”).

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: the — commit theft
  • Arabic: سَرَقَ (saraqa) — commit theft
  • Bulgarian: крада (krada) — commit theft
  • Cornish: ladra — commit theft
  • Danish: stjæle — commit theft
  • Esperanto: ŝteli — commit theft
  • Finnish: varastaa — commit theft
  • French: voler — commit theft
  • German: stehlen — commit theft
  • Italian: rubare — commit theft
  • Māori: tāhae — commit theft
  • Māori: kaiā — commit theft
  • Māori: whānako — commit theft
  • Polish: kraść — commit theft
  • Polish: ukraść — commit theft
  • Portuguese: roubar — commit theft
  • Russian: ворова́ть (vorovátʹ) — commit theft
  • Russian: сворова́ть (svorovátʹ) — commit theft
  • Russian: красть (krastʹ) — commit theft
  • Russian: укра́сть (ukrástʹ) — commit theft
  • Serbo-Croatian: ukrasti — commit theft
  • Spanish: robar — commit theft
  • Swedish: stjäla — commit theft
  • Tok Pisin: stilim — commit theft
  • Volapük: tifön — commit theft