different between outlaw vs thief

English

Etymology

From Middle English outlawe, outlagh, utla?e, from Old English ?tlaga (“outlaw”), borrowed from Old Norse útlagi (“outlaw, fugitive”), equivalent to out- +? law. Cognate with Icelandic útlagi (“outlaw”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?a?tl??/

Noun

outlaw (plural outlaws)

1. A fugitive from the law.
2. (historical) A criminal who is excluded from normal legal rights; one who can be killed at will without legal penalty.
3. A person who operates outside established norms.

4. A wild horse.
5. (humorous) An in-law: a relative by marriage.
6. (humorous) One who would be an in-law except that the marriage-like relationship is unofficial.
7. (slang) A prostitute who works alone, without a pimp.
   • 1977, Joseph Julian, Social Problems (page 463)

     Without a pimp, she was an "outlaw," likely to be harassed, or threatened with assault or robbery on the street.

   • 2010, Lawrence Block, Eight Million Ways To Die

     She was an outlaw. Chance is doing some double-checking to see if she had a pimp nobody knew about, but it doesn't look likely.

Synonyms

• (fugitive): absconder, fugitive
• (criminal): bandit, wolfshead
• (person who operates outside established norms): anti-hero, deviant

Hypernyms

• (criminal): See Thesaurus:criminal
• (prostitute): See Thesaurus:prostitute

Translations

Verb

outlaw (third-person singular simple present outlaws, present participle outlawing, simple past and past participle outlawed)

1. To declare illegal.
2. To place a ban upon.
3. To remove from legal jurisdiction or enforcement.

4. To deprive of legal force.
   • 1662, Thomas Fuller, History of the Worthies of England

     our English common law was outlawed in those parts.

See also

• criminalize
• felonize
• misdemeanorize

Translations

Further reading

• outlaw in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• outlaw in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• outlaw at OneLook Dictionary Search

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