Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

pillage

/ˈpɪl.ɪd͡ʒ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.76 in modern English

Syllables: pil-lage
IPA: /ˈpɪl.ɪd͡ʒ/

10

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To loot or plunder by force, especially in time of war.

noun

The spoils of war.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The act of pillaging.

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"1911, Sabine Baring-Gould, Castles and Cave Dwellings of Europe, Chapter VI: Cliff Castles—Continued, Archibald V. (1361-1397) was Count of Perigord. He was nominally under the lilies [France], but he pillaged indiscriminately in his county."
"So far as Pridger was concerned the game was up. He had cooked the buying, he had cooked the selling, he had systematically pillaged the stock."
"Which pillage they with merry march bring home."
"An employee at a brewery in Kinshasa rated the aftermath as more catastrophic to the company than the direct violence: It was more the consequences of the pillages that hit Bracongo – the poverty of the people, our friends who buy beer."

Etymology

From Old French pillage, from piller (“plunder”), from an unattested meaning of Late Latin piliō, probably a figurative use of Latin pilō (“to remove (hair)”), from pilus (“hair”).

Origin

Source language: Old French

Word Breakdown

Root: pillage

Usage

Inflected Forms

pillages (present, singular) pillaging (participle, present) pillaged (participle, past) pillaged (past) pillages (plural)

Derived Forms

pillageable pillager unpillaged

Synonyms

harry booty plundering pillaging loot plunder prize swag dirty money

Rhymes With

spillage millage milledge village police village tillage

Questions

How do you pronounce pillage?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpɪl.ɪd͡ʒ/.
What does pillage mean?: To loot or plunder by force, especially in time of war.
Where does pillage come from?: It is traced to Old French.

How to pronounce pillage

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “pillage”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈpɪl.ɪd͡ʒ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “pillage”.
Repeat and practice — Say “pillage” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.