plunder
English
editEtymology
editRecorded since 1632 during the Thirty Years War, native British use since the Cromwellian Civil War. Borrowed from German plündern (“to loot”), from Middle High German, from Middle Low German plunderen. Cognate with Dutch plunderen, West Frisian plonderje, Saterland Frisian plunnerje. Probably denominal from a word for “household goods, clothes, bedding”; compare Middle Dutch plunder, German Plunder (“stuff”), Dutch and West Frisian plunje (“clothes”).
Pronunciation
edit- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈplʌndə/
- (General American) enPR: plŭn'də(r), IPA(key): /ˈplʌndɚ/, /ˈplən-/
Audio (General American): (file) Audio (General American): (file) - Rhymes: -ʌndə(ɹ)
- Hyphenation: plund‧er
Verb
editplunder (third-person singular simple present plunders, present participle plundering, simple past and past participle plundered)
- (transitive) To pillage, take or destroy all the goods of, by force (as in war); to raid, sack.
- The mercenaries plundered the small town.
- The shopkeeper was plundered of his possessions by the burglar.
- 1937, Josephus, Ralph Marcus, transl., chapter VIII, in Josephus: With an English Translation (Loeb Classical Library), volume VI (Jewish Antiquities), London: William Heinemann Ltd.; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, published 1958, →OCLC, book IX, paragraph 1, page 87:
- (transitive) To take (goods) by pillage.
- The mercenaries plundered all the goods they found.
- (intransitive) To take by force or wrongfully; to commit robbery or looting, to raid.
- “Now to plunder, mateys!” screamed a buccaneer, to cries of “Arrgh!” and “Aye!” all around.
- (transitive) To make extensive (over)use of, as if by plundering; to use or use up wrongfully.
- The miners plundered the jungle for its diamonds till it became a muddy waste.
- (transitive) To take unexpectedly.
- 2014 October 18, Paul Doyle, “Southampton hammer eight past hapless Sunderland in barmy encounter”, in The Guardian:
- The Serb teed up Steve Davis, who crossed low for Graziano Pellè to plunder his fifth league goal of the campaign.
Derived terms
editTranslations
editto take all the goods of, by force (as in war) (transitive)
|
to take by force or wrongfully
|
to commit robbery or looting (intransitive)
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to use or use up wrongfully
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Noun
editplunder (uncountable)
- An instance of plundering.
- The loot attained by plundering.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:booty
- The Hessian kept his choicest plunder in a sack that never left his person, for fear that his comrades would steal it.
- (slang, dated) Baggage; luggage.
- 1880, The Peterson Magazine, volumes 77-78, page 215:
- […] till a long-legged boy brought him out of his revery, by an offer to carry his “plunder,” in whatsoever direction he might desire to direct his steps.
Derived terms
editTranslations
editinstance of plundering
|
loot attained by plundering
|
See also
editDutch
editPronunciation
editAudio: (file)
Etymology 1
editFrom Middle Dutch plunder, further etymology unknown.
Alternative forms
editNoun
editplunder c (plural plunders, diminutive plundertje n)
- one's property, (collective) possessions
Derived terms
edit- bedelaarsplunder m
- geplunderd (adjective)
- plunderage
- plunderbroek
- plunderij
- plunderkamer m or f
- plundermarkt m or f
- plundermelk m or f
- plunderzolder m
Etymology 2
editVerb
editplunder
- inflection of plunderen:
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