defalcate

verb [ˈdɛfəɫkeɪt]

1. To misappropriate funds; to embezzle.

   intransitive

2. To cut off (a part of something).

   obsolete, transitive

3. To deduct or take away (a part of income, money, rents, etc.).

   obsolete, transitive

   One would have thought the natural method in a plan of reformation vvould be, to take the preſent exiſting eſtimates as they ſtand; and then to ſhevv vvhat may be practicably and ſafely defalcated from them.

Where it comes from

First attested in the 1530s, in the sense “to lop off”; borrowed from Medieval Latin dēfalcātus, perfect passive participle of dēfalcō (“to cut or lop off”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from Latin dē (“off”) + falx (“sickle, scythe, pruning hook”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry defalcate (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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