different between thief vs despoiler

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

English

Etymology

despoil +? -er

Noun

despoiler (plural despoilers)

1. One who despoils; one who strips by force; a plunderer.
   • 1881, Rosa Campbell Praed, Policy and Passion, Chapter 30,^[1]

     A wild and unreasoning craving for vengeance took possession of Ferris’s soul. Passing by the real despoiler of Angela’s peace, it clamoured like an evil spirit against the man from whom he had received benefits, which his distorted imagination construed into insults.

   • 1985, Stephen Jay Gould, The Flamingo’s Smile: Reflections in Natural History, New York: Norton, 1987, Chapter 1,^[2]

     Other despoilers of our natural heritage killed bison with even greater abandon, removed the tongue only (considered a great delicacy in some quarters), and left the rest of the carcass to rot.

References

• despoiler in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• leprosied, spoilered