plunder
/ˈplʌndɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.10 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To pillage, take or destroy all the goods of, by force (as in war); to raid, sack.
Transitive verb
verb
To make extensive (over)use of, as if by plundering; to use or use up wrongfully.
Transitive verb
verb
To amass ill-gotten wealth (by public officials) through a combination or series of overt criminal acts.
Example Sentences
- "The mercenaries plundered the small town."
- "The shopkeeper was plundered of his possessions by the burglar."
- "Now Azaēlos, the king of Syria, made war on the Israelites and their king Jehu, and ravaged the eastern parts of the country across the Jordan […] spreading fire everywhere and plundering everything and inflicting violence on all who fell into his hands."
- "The mercenaries plundered all the goods they found."
- "“Now to plunder, mateys!” screamed a buccaneer, to cries of “Arrgh!” and “Aye!” all around."
- "The miners plundered the jungle for its diamonds till it became a muddy waste."
Etymology
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: plündern, -, plunderen
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈplʌndɚ/
- British English: /ˈplʌndə/