Word.ws English Dictionary

defalcate

[ˈdɛfəɫkeɪt]

defalcate verb: to misappropriate funds; to embezzle.

Verb

defalcate (third-person singular simple present defalcates, present participle defalcating, simple past and past participle defalcated)

  1. (intransitive) To misappropriate funds; to embezzle.
  2. (obsolete, transitive) To cut off (a part of something).
  3. (obsolete, transitive) To deduct or take away (a part of income, money, rents, etc.).
    • One would have thought the natural method in a plan of reformation vvould be, to take the preſent exiſting eſtimates as they ſtand; and then to ſhevv vvhat may be practicably and ſafely defalcated from them.1769, [Edmund Burke], Observations on a Late State of the Nation, London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC, page 42

defalcate meaning in Urdu

defalcate in Urdu

ڈکار جانا, غبن کرنا, پیسے مارنا

Forms of defalcate

third-person singular presentdefalcates
present participledefalcating
past participledefalcated
pastdefalcated

Origin of defalcate

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).

Words formed from defalcate

Questions about defalcate

What does defalcate mean?
Defalcate means to misappropriate funds; to embezzle.
What is defalcate in Urdu?
Defalcate in Urdu is ڈکار جانا, غبن کرنا, پیسے مارنا. See Defalcate meaning in Urdu.
What part of speech is defalcate?
Defalcate is a verb.
How do you pronounce defalcate?
Defalcate is pronounced [ˈdɛfəɫkeɪt] (UK).
What is the past tense of defalcate?
The past tense of defalcate is defalcated.

Words near defalcate in the dictionary

  1. defailments
  2. defails
  3. defailure
  4. defaitism
  5. Defaka
  6. defalcate
  7. defalcated
  8. defalcates
  9. defalcating
  10. defalcation
  11. defalcations

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: defalcate (page history and authors); defalcate (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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