Theft is the broad, current term for dishonestly taking someone's property. Larceny is an older and narrower legal category — historically it required taking and carrying away physical property. Most jurisdictions have replaced it with theft, though several US states still use larceny as a formal charge.
The core difference
The difference is largely jurisdictional and historical rather than one of everyday meaning.
- theft — the general offence of dishonestly appropriating property belonging to another. The standard modern term.
- larceny — the older common-law offence, historically requiring physical taking and carrying away.
Why larceny narrowed
Because it required a physical taking, larceny could not easily cover things like embezzlement or obtaining property by deception, which produced a patchwork of separate offences. Consolidating them under theft was the reform that most jurisdictions eventually adopted — England and Wales did so in 1968.
Related terms
Robbery is theft with force or the threat of it. Burglary is entering a building as a trespasser to commit an offence — you can commit burglary without stealing anything at all.
