defalcate

Meanings

1. To misappropriate funds; to embezzle.
2. To cut off (a part of something).
3. To deduct or take away (a part of income, money, rents, etc.).

Etymology

First attested in the 1530s, in the sense “to lop off”; borrowed from Medieval Latin dēfalcātus, perfect passive participle of dēfalcō (“to cut or lop off”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from Latin dē (“off”) + falx (“sickle, scythe, pruning hook”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).