corsair
English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French corsaire, from Medieval Latin cursārius (“pirate”), from Latin cursus (“course, a running; plunder, hostile inroad”). Doublet of courser and hussar.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
corsair (plural corsairs)
- A French privateer, especially from the port of Saint-Malo.
- A privateer or pirate in general.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pirate
- 1841 February–November, Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, volume III, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, chapter 34:
- "If I had been born a corsair or a pirate, a brigand, genteel highwayman or patriot―and they're the same thing," thought Mr. Tappertit, musing among the nine-pins, "I should have been all right. But to drag out a [sic] ignoble existence unbeknown to mankind in general―patience! I will be famous yet."
- The ship of privateers or pirates, especially of French nationality.
- A nocturnal assassin bug of the genus Rasahus, found in the southern USA.
- A Californian market fish (Sebastes rosaceus).
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
privateersman or pirate
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pirate ship or privateer
Further reading edit
- corsair on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Assassin bug on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Peiratinae on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
- Category:Reduviidae on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons