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plunder

verb
/ˈplʌndə/UK/ˈplʌndɚ/US

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 definition originates with the Anti-Plunder Act, an act of Congress enacted in 1991.

  1. derived from plunderen
  2. borrowed from plündern — “to loot”

Definitions

  1. To pillage, take or destroy all the goods of, by force (as in war)

    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.

  2. To take (goods) by pillage.

    • The mercenaries plundered all the goods they found.

  3. To take by force or wrongfully

    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.
  4. ›+ 6 more definitions

    1. To make extensive (over)use of, as if by plundering

      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.

    2. To take unexpectedly.

      • The Serb teed up Steve Davis, who crossed low for Graziano Pellè to plunder his fifth league goal of the campaign.

    3. An instance of plundering.

    4. 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.

    5. Baggage

      Baggage; luggage.

      • […] 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.

    6. The crime of amassing ill-gotten wealth by public officials through a combination or…

      The crime of amassing ill-gotten wealth by public officials through a combination or series of overt criminal acts.

The neighborhood

Derived

plunderable, plunderage, plunderer, plunderess, plunderfish, plunderingly, plunderous, plunderphonics, plundersome, replunder, unplundered, economic plunder, house plunder, plunderless

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at plunder. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01plunder02sack03pillaging04pillage05loot06plundering07plunders

A definitional loop anchored at plunder. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at plunder

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA