What does peculate mean?
Peculate is a formal verb meaning to steal or improperly appropriate money or property that one has been entrusted to manage. Its use is especially associated with public officials, trustees, accountants, and other people responsible for funds, and it implies both dishonesty and breach of trust rather than ordinary theft alone. The word can be used in legal reporting, historical writing, and formal criticism, though embezzle or misappropriate is more common in general speech. A related noun, peculation, names the act itself. Peculate is a useful precise term when the circumstances involve someone improperly taking property from a position of authority or responsibility.
verbTo embezzle or misappropriate money or property entrusted to one's care, especially public funds. It is formal and generally implies dishonest or unauthorized taking.
- To embezzle or misappropriate money or property entrusted to one's care.
"The treasurer was accused of peculating funds entrusted to the charity."
"The official used the charity's account to peculate thousands of pounds."
"In the novel, the clerk is discovered to have been peculating public funds."
Peculate is a formal warning label for turning entrusted money into personal gain.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does peculate come from?
The word comes from Latin pēculārī, meaning “to steal” or “to misappropriate,” a verb associated with peculum, a private possession or entrusted property. English borrowed the term in the 17th century. The same Latin family also gave rise to words such as peculiar, through Latin peculiaris, referring originally to private property.
Related word forms
How peculate is actually used
The word is formal, relatively uncommon, and carries a strongly accusatory or legal connotation. It is usually used for dishonest appropriation of money or property held in a position of trust.
Easily confused with peculate
Peculate means to steal or misappropriate entrusted money or property, whereas percolate means to pass through a porous material or filter.