purloin (verb) - to take dishonestly or sneakily; to steal [pur-loin]
BREAKDOWN: POR- (forth) + LONG- (long)
purloin has the same roots as prolong
“A great teacher is my adversary, my conqueror, commissioned to chastise me. He leaves me tame and grateful for the new language he has purloined from other kings whose granaries are filled and whose libraries are famous. He tells me that teaching is the art of theft: of knowing what to steal and from whom. Bad teachers do not touch me; the great ones never leave me.” —Pat Conroy
