peculation

noun

Etymology: From Latin pecūlātiō (“embezzlement”) from pecūlor (“to defraud the public”), related to pecūlium (“property in cattle, private property”), from pecū (“cattle, money”).

1. The wrongful appropriation or embezzlement of shared or public property, usually by a person entrusted with the guardianship of that property.

   “[The Chief Magistrate] might pervert his administration into a scheme of peculation or oppression.”

   “Sir Pitt Crawley (named after the great Commoner) was the son of Walpole Crawley, first Baronet, of the Tape and Sealing-Wax Office in the reign of George II., when he was impeached for peculation, as were a great number of other honest gentlemen of those days ...”