English edit

Etymology edit

From Latin spoliātiō, from spoliāre +‎ -tiō, from spolium (skin, hide, fell) +‎ -āre.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˌspəʊliˈeɪʃən/
  • (file)

Noun edit

spoliation (countable and uncountable, plural spoliations)

  1. (archaic) The act of plundering or spoiling; robbery
    Synonyms: deprivation, despoliation
    • 1832, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Heath's Book of Beauty, 1833, The Knife, page 121:
      The shop bore even more evident signs of spoliation—that reckless wastefulness which seems the constant companion of cruelty; but little of the grocery appeared to have been touched, excepting the sweet things.
    • 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 1, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, [], published 1853, →OCLC:
      In trickery, evasion, procrastination, spoliation, botheration, under false pretences of all sorts, there are influences that can never come to good.
  2. Robbery or plunder in times of war; especially, the authorized act or practice of plundering neutrals at sea.
  3. (law) The intentional destruction of or tampering with (a document) in such way as to impair evidentiary effect.

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Translations edit

References edit

Anagrams edit

French edit

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

spoliation f (plural spoliations)

  1. spoliation

Further reading edit