1. Hist. Theft; an act or instance of stealing. • Etymologically, this term is the noun corresponding to the verb steal.
“Stealth is the wrongful taking of goods without pretence of title: and therefore altereth not the property, as a trespass doth, so as upon an appeal the party shall re-have them.” Sir Henry Finch, Law, or a Discourse Thereof 210 (1759).
2. Surreptitiousness; furtive slyness.