defalcation

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The Word of the Day for June 3 is: 

defalcation   \dee-fal-KAY-shun\   noun
    *1 : the act or an instance of embezzling
     2 : a failure to meet a promise or an expectation 

Example sentence:
     "'She made off with the money, an act of defalcation that 
disqualifies her from receiving a bankruptcy discharge,' the 
judge ruled." (_Orlando Sentinel_, March 21, 2004)

Did you know?
     "The tea table shall be set forth every morning with its 
customary bill of fare, and without any manner of defalcation." 
No reference to embezzlement there! This line, from a 1712 issue 
of _Spectator_ magazine, is an example of the earliest, and now 
archaic, sense of "defalcation," which is simply defined 
as "curtailment." "Defalcation" is ultimately from the Latin 
word "falx," meaning "sickle" (a tool for cutting), and it has 
been a part of English since the 1400s. It was used early on of 
monetary cutbacks (as in "a defalcation in their wages"), and by 
the 1600s it was used of most any sort of financial reversal (as 
in "a defalcation of public revenues"). Not till the mid-1800s, 
however, did "defalcation" refer to breaches of trust that cause 
a financial loss, or, specifically, to embezzlement. 

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.