Filches

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Takes something secretly or casually without permission
2. Sneakily removes an item usually of small value without being noticed
3. Quietly and dishonestly takes possession of something without consent

Etymology: Middle English "filchen" meant "to pilfer, steal," and the word's own ancestry is murky. The most plausible link runs to Old English "fylċian," meaning "to marshal troops," and "ġefylċe," a "band of men, army, host." If that connection holds, a word for stealing would descend from a word about gathering soldiers, though the path between those meanings is not documented. "Filches" is simply the third-person singular present form of "filch," so it describes someone who takes something secretly or casually, as a thief would with a wallet slipped from a pocket. Georges de la Tour's painting "The Fortune Teller" (c. 1630) shows exactly this scene: while a young man has his palm read, a companion filches his coin purse, and a medal is cut from his chain.

Synonyms: steals, snatches, pilfers

Antonyms: gives, donates