Larceny is the legal term for the crime of stealing someone’s property, usually without using force or threats.
From Anglo-French *larcin*, from Old French *larrecin*, from Latin *latrocinium*, meaning robbery or banditry. It originally covered various types of theft and later became a specific legal category.
*Larceny* sounds fancy, but it just means theft dressed in legal language. Its Latin root is also connected to *latrine* through the idea of hidden or disreputable places—crime and filth traveling together in the word history.
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