A fraud, swindle, or confidence scheme; in Spanish and Portuguese, a term for deception or criminal fraud.
From Spanish 'estafa,' possibly derived from Arabic 'istafa' meaning 'to choose' or 'to take,' reflecting medieval Spain's linguistic mixing. Some scholars connect it to Italian 'staffa' (stirrup) through the idea of displacement.
This word carries the multilingual history of medieval Spain perfectly—scholars still debate whether it came from Arabic trade language or Italian, but everyone agrees it means someone has stolen your trust (and probably your money)!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.