Em*bez"zle*ment (?), n. The fraudulent appropriation of property by a person to whom it has been intrusted; as, the embezzlement by a clerk of his employer's money; embezzlement of public funds by the public officer having them in charge.

&fist; Larceny denotes a taking, by fraud or stealth, from another's possession; embezzlement denotes an appropriation, by fraud or stealth, of property already in the wrongdoer's possession. In England and in most of the United States embezzlement is made indictable by statute.

• Law and economics. The fraudulent conversion of property from a property owner.