larceny

noun, plural lar·ce·nies. Law.

1. the wrongful taking and carrying away of the personal goods of another from his or her possession with intent to convert them to the taker’s own use.

noun plural -nies

1. law (formerly) a technical word for theft

n.late 15c., with -y (3) + Anglo-French larcin (late 13c.), from Old French larrecin, larcin “theft, robbery” (11c.), from Latin latrocinium “robbery, freebooting, highway-robbery, piracy,” from latro “robber, bandit,” also “hireling, mercenary,” ultimately from a Greek source akin to latron “pay, hire, wages,” from a suffixed form of PIE root *le- “to get.” Theft; taking another person’s property with the intent of permanently depriving the owner.