English
fraud
Fraud comes from Middle English fraude ‘deceptiveness, fraudulence’, and goes back to Latin fraus ‘deceit, injury, offence’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfraus‘deceit’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400fraude
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘deceptiveness’
- Englishearliest quotation 1671fraud
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfraus‘deceit’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400fraude
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘deceptiveness’
- Englishearliest quotation 1671fraud
Earliest quotation: 1671, John Milton, The First Book: “to draw the proud King Ahab into fraud”.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ- ‘to deceive, mislead’
Today it means
noun The crime of stealing or otherwise illegally obtaining money by use of deception tactics.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin fraus / fraud