different between dacoit vs thief

English

Alternative forms

• dakoit, decoit

Etymology

Borrowed from Hindi ???? (?akait)/Urdu ????? (?akait), from ???? (??k?, “gang-robbery”)/Urdu ????? (??k?).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??k??t/
• Rhymes: -??t

Noun

dacoit (plural dacoits)

1. (chiefly India) A bandit or armed robber, especially in India, Pakistan, Myanmar, and the surrounding region.
   • 1893, Bithia Mary Croker, "The Dâk Bungalow at Dakor" in "To Let" etc., Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1906, p. 118, [1]

     […] she had harangued us on the subject of fever and cholera and bad water, had warned us solemnly against dacoits, and now she was hinting at ghosts.

   • 1954, July 19, "The Terror of Kings," Time:

     The history of northern India is studded with the names of notorious outlaw dacoits who roam the hills in the name of Kali, robbing the rich, comforting the poor, and in general spreading terror and rough justice.

   • 1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin 2006, p. 49:

     On the way back Boyles led him down a lampless lane, and sure enough, a pair of dacoits pounced on them.

   • 2004, Oct. 20, Catherine Philp, "India's Bandit King is betrayed," The Times, London:

     “The notorious forest brigand, bandit, murderer and dacoit, Veerappan, along with his entire gang, has been shot dead,” Jayaram Jayalalithaa, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu State, announced.

   • 2007 April 21, "EDITORIAL: Pakistani Phoolan Devi’s short career," Daily Times, Pakistan:

     A very athletic female dacoit was arrested in North Nazimabad in Karachi after she vaulted over a nine-foot wall, following her unsuccessful attempt at armed robbery in the house of a retired banker.

Derived terms

• dacoitage
• dacoity

Translations

Verb

dacoit (third-person singular simple present dacoits, present participle dacoiting, simple past and past participle dacoited)

1. (chiefly India) To commit armed robbery.

References

• dacoit at OneLook Dictionary Search
• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.

English

Alternative forms

• theef

Etymology

From Middle English thef, theef, þef, from Old English þ?of, from Proto-Germanic *þeubaz. Spelling from Northern England, where /e?o/ became [i?] rather than [e?]. (Compare the spelling of deep from Old English deop.)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: th?f, IPA^(key): /?i?f/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?if/
• Rhymes: -i?f

Noun

thief (plural thieves)

1. One who carries out a theft.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:thief
2. One who steals another person's property, especially by stealth and without using force or violence.
3. (obsolete) A waster in the snuff of a candle.
   • 1640, Joseph Hall, Divine Light

     But hear you , my Worthy Brethren : do not you , where you see a thief in the candle , call presently for an extinguisher

Hypernyms

• (one who carries out a theft): See Thesaurus:criminal

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• thieve

Translations

Anagrams

• feith, theif