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plunder

plun·der

UK/ˈplʌndə/ US/ˈplʌndɚ/ uncommon dated slang
noun (1) verb (4)

noun

1.

verb

1.

take illegally; of intellectual property

  • “This writer plundered from famous authors”
Synonyms
2.

plunder (a town) after capture

  • “the barbarians sacked Rome”
Synonyms
3.

steal goods; take as spoils

  • “During the earthquake people looted the stores that were deserted by their owners”
Synonyms
4.

destroy and strip of its possession

  • “The soldiers raped the beautiful country”
Synonyms

Origin

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, from a noun originally meaning "household goods, bedding, clothing," of obscure ultimate origin. This is first attested in medieval records, and according to Gijsseling, is therefore attested too late to be considered a substrate word. Due to the lack of obvious cognates in other languages from which it would have been loaned, it could have developed as some slang word in Lower Saxony/the Low Countries. 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”). The Philippine definitions originate with the Anti-Plunder Act, an act of Congress enacted in 1991.

Phrases

  • house plunder

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.