| 单词 | peculate |
| 释义 | peculate (once / 8901 pages) v If you embezzle, especially if you steal public funds for your own private use, then you peculate that money. To peculate is, of course, illegal — if you're caught, you can serve jail time. Peculate comes from the Latin word peculium, meaning private property, which itself has the root pecu, or cattle, so the literal meaning of peculium is "property in cattle." Cattle were considered very valuable property in ancient times, and stealing them was a grave act. Other words that have pecu at their roots include "peculiar" and "pecuniary." Despite the extremely similar spelling, the word "speculate" has totally different roots that have nothing to do with either cattle or embezzlement. WORD FAMILYpeculate: peculated, peculates, peculating, peculation, peculator+/peculation: peculations/peculator: peculators USAGE EXAMPLESIt would appear that many charges of the biographers were made upon the authority of a peculating servant whom Bront� had angered by dismissal. Wolfe, Theodore F. (Theodore Frelinghuysen), A Literary Pilgrimage Among the Hau...(2012) He was once the Shah’s Prime Minister: he peculated, and was disgraced. Berdoe, Edward, The Browning Cyclop?dia—A Guide to...(2011) He knows how pedants hoodwink people, how priests act the hypocrite, how physicians act the rake, how lawyers peculate. Masson, David, The Three Devils: Luther's, Milton'...(2011) v appropriate (as property entrusted to one's care) fraudulently for one's own use Syn|Hypo|Hyper defalcate, embezzle, malversate, misappropriate fiddle commit fraud and steal from one's employer steal take without the owner's consent |
| 随便看 |
英语词典包含147318条英英释义在线翻译词条，基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。