plunder
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Recorded 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”).
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈplʌndə/
- (General American) enPR: plŭn'də(r), IPA(key): /ˈplʌndɚ/, /ˈplən-/
Audio (GA) (file) Audio (GA) (file) - Rhymes: -ʌndə(ɹ)
- Hyphenation: plund‧er
VerbEdit
plunder (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, Paul Doyle, "Southampton hammer eight past hapless Sunderland in barmy encounter", The Guardian, 18 October 2014:
- The Serb teed up Steve Davis, who crossed low for Graziano Pellè to plunder his fifth league goal of the campaign.
- 2014, Paul Doyle, "Southampton hammer eight past hapless Sunderland in barmy encounter", The Guardian, 18 October 2014:
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
to take all the goods of, by force (as in war) (transitive)
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to take by force or wrongfully
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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.
NounEdit
plunder (uncountable)
- An instance of plundering.
- The loot attained by plundering.
- The Hessian kept his choicest plunder in a sack that never left his person, for fear that his comrades would steal it.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:booty
- (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.
- 1880, The Peterson Magazine (volumes 77-78, page 215)
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
instance of plundering
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loot attained by plundering
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See alsoEdit
DutchEdit
PronunciationEdit
Audio (file)
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle Dutch plunder, further etymology unknown.
Alternative formsEdit
- plonder (obsolete)
NounEdit
plunder c (plural plunders, diminutive plundertje n)
- One's property, (collective) possessions
Derived termsEdit
- bedelaarsplunder m
- geplunderd (adjective)
- plunderage
- plunderbroek
- plunderij
- plunderkamer m or f
- plundermarkt m or f
- plundermelk m or f
- plunderzolder m
Etymology 2Edit
VerbEdit
plunder