Etymograph

English

depeculation

Depeculation comes from Latin dēpecūlor ‘to despoil, pillage, rifle, plunder, embezzle’, from pecūlor ‘to defraud the public’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- ‘livestock’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peḱ-1‘livestock’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*péḱu2‘cattle’reconstructed*u-stem of *peḱ-
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*peku2‘cattle’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpecū3‘cattle’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpecūlor4‘to defraud the public’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēpecūlor5as depeculari‘to despoil, pillage, rifle, plunder, embezzle’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1651depeculation5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *péḱu
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin pecu
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin peculor
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Latin depeculor
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English depeculation
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1651, Thomas Hobbes: “depeculation of the public treasure”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peḱ-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *péḱu‘livestock’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*péḱuWiktionary, Latin pecu‘cattle’reconstructed*u-stem of *peḱ-
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pekuWiktionary, Latin pecu‘cattle’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpecūWiktionary, Latin peculor‘cattle’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpecūlorWiktionary, Latin depeculor‘to defraud the public’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēpecūlorWiktionary, English depeculationas depeculari‘to despoil, pillage, rifle, plunder, embezzle’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1651depeculationWiktionary, English depeculation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1651, Thomas Hobbes: “depeculation of the public treasure”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- ‘livestock’

fight, fellow, fax, feudal, peculiar, fawn, fain, 24 more

through Proto-Indo-European *péḱu ‘cattle’

fee, feud, cynical, hound, poodle, cynic, feu, chenille, 12 more

through Latin pecū ‘cattle’

pec, pecuniary, pecorino, 6 more

Today it means

noun robbery or embezzlement.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “depeculation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *péḱu, Latin pecu, Latin peculor, Latin depeculor. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- / depeculation

Shirt and support for this word