thievery

noun

Etymology: From thieve + -ery. Compare Old Frisian deverie ("thievery; theft"; > West Frisian dieverij; Saterland Frisian Däiweräi), Dutch dieverij (“thievery”), German Low German Deveree (“thievery; theft”), German Dieberei (“thievery”), Danish tyveri (“thievery; theft; larceny”), Swedish tjuveri (“thievery”).

1. The act of theft, the act of stealing.

   “This instance of thievery will not be overlooked.”

   “One thief may well have the power to achieve a certain amount of success in fulfilling his desires to possess the property of another. But thievery being what it is, it feeds that desire in an intemperate way, and so the desire grows and grows.”

2. That which is stolen.

   “Injurious Time now, with a robber's haste, / Crams his rich thievery up, he knows not how;”