THEFT  , the

act of thieving or stealing . In English legal usage the practice is to call this act by its Norman-French name of " larceny," but properly theft is a wider term including other forms of wrongful deprivation of the property of another (see LARCENY) . The O.E. word peof ae or pief $e is formed from peof, thief or peofan, to thieve, cf . Ger . Dieb, Du. dief, Goth. thiubs . The origin is not known . It may be related to Lithuanian tupeti, to crouch or squat down; thus " thief " would mean " 0ne who hides himself." The O.F. stelan, to steal, appears also in other Teat. languages, cf . Du. stelen, Swed. stjdla, Goth, stillan, &c . It has been doubt-fully connected with Gr. orepe"ty, to deprive .