Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of cutting off or deducting a part; abatement; curtailment; specifically, in law, the reduction of a claim or demand on contract by the amount of a counter-claim.
  • noun That which is cut off; deficit.
  • noun A deficiency through breach of trust by one who has the management or charge of funds belonging to others; a fraudulent deficiency in money matters.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A lopping off; a diminution; abatement; deficit. Specifically: Reduction of a claim by deducting a counterclaim; set- off.
  • noun That which is lopped off, diminished, or abated.
  • noun An abstraction of money, etc., by an officer or agent having it in trust; an embezzlement.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun law The act of cancelling part of a claim by deducting a smaller claim which the claimant owes to the defendant.
  • noun embezzlement

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the sum of money that is misappropriated
  • noun the fraudulent appropriation of funds or property entrusted to your care but actually owned by someone else

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Late 15th century, from Medieval Latin dēfalcātiōnem, accusative singular of dēfalcātiō (literally "cutting off, lopping off with a sickle"), nominalization of dēfalcō, from Latin  ("off") + falx ("sickle, scythe, pruning hook"), from which also English falcate ("sickle-shaped").

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Examples

  • But the government school monopolists and Democrats want you to believe that protecting waste, incompetence and defalcation is for the children!

    Sound Politics: Eliminating accountability ... for the children! 2007

  • The terms defalcation, misappropriation, and other fiscal irregularities refer to, but are not limited to:

    Chapter 18 1998

  • The amount of the defalcation is variously estimated at from two and a half to five millions, involving in losses several bankers and brokers.

    Foreign and Colonial Intelligence 1865

  • Yesterday's term was defalcation, which is defined as:

    Define That Term #35 2006

  • Management believes the defalcation will be a covered loss, less the deductible.

    The Earth Times Online Newspaper 2010

  • Management believes the defalcation will be a covered loss, less the deductible.

    The Earth Times Online Newspaper 2010

  • Management believes the defalcation will be a covered loss, less the deductible.

    The Earth Times Online Newspaper 2010

  • Management believes the defalcation will be a covered loss, less the deductible.

    The Earth Times Online Newspaper 2010

  • His lifelong political enemy called him "the great incendiary" and a "master of the puppets", deplored his "obstinacy and inflexible disposition", and also accused him of "defalcation" a quaint expression for embezzlement.

    Dove's Eye View: 2006

  • His lifelong political enemy called him "the great incendiary" and a "master of the puppets", deplored his "obstinacy and inflexible disposition", and also accused him of "defalcation" a quaint expression for embezzlement.

    Our Founding Moonbat 2006

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  • from Trollope

    October 1, 2007