to steal; filch
Origin of purloin
Middle English purlognen from Old French purloignier from pur- (L pro-), for + loin, far from Classical Latin longe, longpurloin
pur·loin 
She will purloin her cousin's red shoes because they go perfectly with her outfit.
Purloin is to steal.
When you steal your cousin's shoes, this is an example of a time when you purloin the shoes.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"purloin." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/purloin>.
APA Style
purloin. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/purloin
purloin
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"purloin." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/purloin>.
APA Style
purloin. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/purloin
purloin
transitive verb
pur·loined, pur·loin·ing, pur·loinsTo steal, especially in a stealthy way. See Synonyms at steal.
Origin of purloin
Middle English purloinen to remove from Anglo-Norman purloigner pur- away ( from Latin prō- ; see pro- 1. ) loign far ( from Latin longē ) ( from longus long ; see del-1 in Indo-European roots.)Related Forms:
- pur·loin′er
noun
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"purloin." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/purloin>.
APA Style
purloin. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/purloin
Verb
(third-person singular simple present purloins, present participle purloining, simple past and past participle purloined)
- To take the property of another, often in breach of trust; to appropriate wrongfully; to steal.
- (intransitive) To commit theft; to thieve.
Origin
Anglo-Norman purloigner, one of the variants of Old French porloigner.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"purloin." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/purloin>.
APA Style
purloin. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/purloin
