How do you pronounce robbery?

The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɹɑbəɹi/.

Where does robbery come from?

It is traced to Middle English.

robbery

/ˈɹɑbəɹi/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.97 in modern English

Syllables: rob-bery
IPA: /ˈɹɑbəɹi/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The act or practice of robbing.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The offense of taking or attempting to take the property of another by force or threat of force.

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"bank robbery"

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *Hrew-? Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp-der. Proto-Germanic *raubōną Frankish *raubōnbor. Late Latin raubāre Old French rober Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Old French -ie Old French roberiebor. Middle English robberie English robbery From Middle English robberie, robry, roberie, from Old French roberie, from the verb rober (“to steal; to pillage”) + -ie. Ultimately from unattested Frankish *raubōn. By surface analysis, rob + -ery. Compare Dutch roverij (“robbery”), Norwegian Bokmål røveri (“robbery”), German Räuberei (“robbery, banditry”). Displaced native Old English rēaflāc.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: robberie, roberie, *raubōn

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈɹɑbəɹi/
British English: /ˈɹɒbəɹi/

Usage

Inflected Forms

robberies (plural)

Derived Forms

antirobbery Nairoberry nonrobbery

Phrases

armed robbery bank robbery daylight robbery fair exchange is no robbery highway robbery strong-arm robbery

Frequently Paired Words

rob robber

Synonyms

looting

Rhymes With

snobbery