We often talk about stealing or robbery using the word "lifting." We might talk about someone "lifting a wallet" or "lifting electronics." That wordplay is also relevant when it comes to heists.
Merriam-Webster defines a "heist" as simply an "armed robbery." Most of us would agree that a heist is a bit more involved than the average robbery. We think of heists as carefully orchestrated plans, carried out by a crew of thieves with elaborate disguises and highly specific skill sets.
Basically, a heist is a much more interesting robbery.
The word "heist" itself has interesting roots. The Oxford English Dictionary traces it back to the 1930s as both a noun and a verb for "holdup" or "robbery." But the word is actually a variant of "hoist," which itself comes from the older verb "hoise," meaning “to raise aloft, by a rope or pulley." This nautical term dates back to the 1400s.
By the 1500s, "hoist" could mean “to raise aloft” or “raise on high.” However, by the 1700s, "hoist" could mean "to break into a building" or "to steal or rob." This meaning seems to come from the practice of lifting someone up on someone else's shoulders to help them break in through a window.
That's how we get "hoist" and then "heist" to refer to robbery. From there, you might be able to guess how the noun and verb "shoplift" makes its way to the criminal lexicon. For more on that, listen to the audio above.
