Undernim

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To take another person's property quietly and without permission, in the manner of a thief
2. To make off with something belonging to someone else by stealth, often unnoticed at the time
3. To purloin or filch an object, carrying it away in secret without the owner's consent

Etymology: "Undernim" is an English verb meaning to steal something quietly, often by slipping it away while someone is not watching. It is built from the prefix "under-" and "nim," an old English verb meaning "to take." "Nim" has a long pedigree: it comes from Old English "niman," which meant to take, seize, or receive, and is related to German "nehmen," which carries the same sense today. The verb is attested in Middle English, and "nim" survived mostly in cant and dialect, where thieves' slang kept it alive long after it had faded from standard speech. The prefix "under-" here does not mean "beneath" in the physical sense. In compounds like this it suggests doing something secretly or stealthily, as in the older sense of "undertake" or "underhand," so "undernim" amounts to taking under cover. Because it was a cant term, it turns up mostly in historical dictionaries and in older crime literature rather than everyday conversation.