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purloin
verb
Did you know?
The word purloin features in the title of a famous Edgar Allan Poe story in its past tense form: "The Purloined Letter" was included in Poe's 1845 Tales, and involves the search for a letter that a cabinet minister has stolen and is now using to blackmail the rightful owner, an unnamed woman of royalty. When Poe opted for purloin for his story, he was employing a term in use since the 15th century with the meaning "to put away; to inappropriately take or make use of." The word had earlier use, now obsolete, with the meaning "to set aside; to render inoperative or ineffectual," a meaning that links more clearly to the word's Anglo-French origin: purluigner means "to prolong, postpone, set aside," and comes from pur-, meaning "forward," and luin, loing, meaning "at a distance." Its ultimate root is Latin longus, long, meaning "long."
Synonyms
steal, pilfer, filch, purloin mean to take from another without right or without detection.
steal may apply to any surreptitious taking of something and differs from the other terms by commonly applying to intangibles as well as material things.
pilfer implies stealing repeatedly in small amounts.
filch adds a suggestion of snatching quickly and surreptitiously.
purloin stresses removing or carrying off for one's own use or purposes.
Examples of purloin in a Sentence
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'purloin.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Middle English, to put away, misappropriate, from Anglo-French purluigner to prolong, postpone, set aside, from pur- forward + luin, loing at a distance, from Latin longe, from longus long — more at purchase entry 1, long
15th century, in the meaning defined above
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Cite this Entry
“Purloin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/purloin. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.
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purloin
transitive verb
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