Theft (?), n. [OE. thefte, AS. �xed;i'ef[eth]e, �xed;�xdf;f[eth]e, �xed;eof[eth]e. See Thief.]
1. Law
The act of stealing; specifically, the felonious taking and removing of personal property, with an intent to deprive the rightful owner of the same; larceny.
⇒ To constitute theft there must be a taking without the owner's consent, and it must be unlawful or felonious; every part of the property stolen must be removed, however slightly, from its former position; and it must be, at least momentarily, in the complete possession of the thief. See Larceny, and the Note under Robbery.
2.
The thing stolen.
[R.]
If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, . . . he shall restore double.
Ex. xxii. 4.
© Webster 1913.