peculation
/pɛkjʊˈleɪʃən/
peculation noun: the wrongful appropriation or embezzlement of shared or public property, usually by a person entrusted with the guardianship of that property.
Noun
peculation (countable and uncountable, plural peculations)
- The wrongful appropriation or embezzlement of shared or public property, usually by a person entrusted with the guardianship of that property.
- [The Chief Magistrate] might pervert his administration into a scheme of peculation or oppression.1787, “Impeachment of the Executive, [20 July] 1787,” Founders Online, National Archives; Original source: The Papers of James Madison, vol. 10, 27 May 1787–3 March 1788, ed. Robert A. Rutland...
- Sir Pitt Crawley (named after the great Commoner) was the son of Walpole Crawley, first Baronet, of the Tape and Sealing-Wax Office in the reign of George II., when he was impeached for peculation, as were a great number of other honest gentlemen of those days ...1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 7, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC
peculation meaning in Kannada
peculation in Kannada
- ಹಣದ ದುರುಪಯೋಗ, ದುರ್ವಿನಿಯೋಗ, ಸ್ವಂತಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಬಳಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು, ಹಣ ನುಂಗಿಹಾಕುವುದು
Examples of peculation in a sentence
- Bulfinch, a solicitor at Redcastle, came to him with irrefragable proofs of gross peculation on the part of the bailiff.1885, Charlotte M. Yonge, chapter 20, in Nuttie's Father:
- She considered herself engaged to be married to a Scotch propaganda officer who had been dismissed for peculation and gone home to sell cars.1989, Anthony Burgess, The Devil’s Mode
- Ephialtes took the opportunity to bring charges of peculation against the outgoing archons who were about to enter the Areopagus and succeeded in having them removed from that council.1990, Donald Kagan, Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy, chapter 2: “Politician”, page 42 (Guild Publishing; CN 2239)
Forms of peculation
| plural | peculations |
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Origin of peculation
From Latin pecūlātiō (“embezzlement”) from pecūlor (“to defraud the public”), related to pecūlium (“property in cattle, private property”), from pecū (“cattle, money”).
Questions about peculation
- What does peculation mean?
- Peculation means the wrongful appropriation or embezzlement of shared or public property, usually by a person entrusted with the guardianship of that property.
- What is peculation in Kannada?
- Peculation in Kannada is ಹಣದ ದುರುಪಯೋಗ, ದುರ್ವಿನಿಯೋಗ, ಸ್ವಂತಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಬಳಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು. See Peculation meaning in Kannada.
- How do you use peculation in a sentence?
- Bulfinch, a solicitor at Redcastle, came to him with irrefragable proofs of gross peculation on the part of the bailiff.
- What part of speech is peculation?
- Peculation is a noun.
- How do you pronounce peculation?
- Peculation is pronounced /pɛkjʊˈleɪʃən/.
- What is the plural of peculation?
- The plural of peculation is peculations.
Words near peculation in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: peculation (page history and authors); peculation (Kannada 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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-peculation.wav.
Cite this entry: “peculation.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/peculation. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.