plundern.
/ˈplʌndə/, U.S. /ˈpləndər/ 1.
a. The action of plundering or taking something as spoil in time of war or civil disorder; pillage, depredation; (also) an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > sacking, raiding, or looting > [noun]
harryingc900
harrowingc1000
skeckinga1387
pillagea1393
skickinga1400
forayingc1400
hership1487
direption1528
sackc1550
sacking1560
sackage1577
saccaging1585
picory1591
reprisalc1595
boot-haling1598
booty-haling1611
rapture?1611
ravage1611
prize-taking1633
plunder1643
booting1651
hen roost1762
ravagement1766
raiding1785
loot1839
looting1842
1643 W. Prynne Soveraigne Power Parl. iv. 29 I abhorre all violence, plunder, rapine, and disorders in Souldiers.
1650 R. Stapleton tr. F. Strada De Bello Belgico v. 125 The Merchants, fearing an universall plunder, shut their doors, and barricadoed them.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 15/2 After the plunder and spoiling of the Temple.
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 365 Into this island, in times of danger, the inhabitants deposited their most valuable effects, to secure them from plunder.
1839 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece VI. xlix. 187 This was a signal for indiscriminate plunder.
1845 S. Austin tr. L. von Ranke Hist. Reformation in Germany (ed. 2) II. 331 The English should..advance as far as possible into the heart of the kingdom, carefully abstaining from plunder.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 797/2 After its capture and plunder by M. Fulvius Nobilior in 189, it [sc. Ambracia] fell into insignificance.
1953 H. Folmer Franco-Spanish Rivalry N. Amer. 151 The easy seizure and plunder of Vera Cruz and other Spanish coastal towns by French buccaneers showed the feasibility of Peñalosa's project.
1999 S. Heaney tr. Beowulf (2000) 51 Fifteen of Hrothgar's house-guards surprised on their benches and ruthlessly devoured, and as many again carried away, a brutal plunder.
b. gen. The acquisition of wealth, property, or assets by violent, dishonest, or questionable methods; widespread or wholesale theft or appropriation; spoliation; (also) an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > spoliation or depredation > [noun]
purchasec1325
ridding1347
riflinga1350
despoilingc1374
preya1375
spoilingc1380
pillagea1393
shavaldrya1400
destrition14..
pillingc1400
pillery1433
spulyieingc1440
rapinea1450
spoliationc1460
depopulation1462
spulyie1464
depredation1483
despoil1483
predationa1500
pilferya1513
pollinga1513
spoil1532
pilling and pollinga1535
pilfering1548
expilation1563
rapt1584
escheat1587
fleecing1593
spoilage1597
depilation1611
manubiary1616
pillaging1629
plundering1632
exspoliation1634
peeling1641
despoliation1658
plunder1661
plunderage1700
spoliage1806
despoilment1822
1661 O. Felltham Resolves (rev. ed.) 318 Those Sins, that grate, and scratch, and gall,..Plunders, Perjuries, and oppressiue Murthers.
a1716 R. South 12 Serm. (1717) V. 275 Those reforming Harpyes, who, by Plunders and Sequestrations, had scraped together three or four Thousand a Year.
1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 99 These Robberies extended to Wearing-Cloths, Linen, and what Rings, or Money they could come at, when the Person dyed who was under their Care, but not to a general Plunder of the Houses.
1782 C. Burney Gen. Hist. Music II. iv. 369 Literary plunder seems the most innocent kind of depredation that can be made upon our neighbours.
1841 R. Cobden Let. 4 Mar. in Westm. Gaz. (1904) 4 June 13/1 It is a dishonour to the name and character of Englishmen to submit to such a system of aristocratic plunder as the Corn Law is now proved to the world to be.
1868 J. H. Blunt Reformation Church of Eng. I. 299 To desolate the houses..of the monks and nuns by such plunder.
1881 J. A. Froude Short Stud. (1883) IV. ii. i. 180 The wretched novice was an object of general plunder till he had learnt how to take care of himself.
1938 R. A. Dixon & E. K. Eberhart Econ. & Cultural Change vii. 345 The conquest of peoples and resources, the plunder of older civilizations, and the building of new markets.
1987 C. Phillips European Tribe 3 Uganda..was still smarting from the Amin years of plunder and mismanagement.
2002 Nation (N.Y.) 4 Feb. 4/2 Every supposed check on executive plunder and piracy has been shredded.
2.
a. Goods or valuables taken from an enemy by force; booty, loot.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > stolen goods > [noun] > spoil or plunder > taken in war or raid
here-fengc1275
preya1325
wainc1330
spoila1340
ravinc1350
spoila1382
pillagea1393
forayc1425
booty1474
trophya1522
prize1522
sackage1609
boot-haling1622
free-booty1623
plunder1647
capture1706
loot1839
sack1859
1647 N. Ward Simple Cobler Aggawam 59 J would not speake thus..for all the plunder your plunderers have pillaged.
1694 E. Phillips tr. J. Milton Lett. of State 27 The most certain Fairs for the Sale of their Plunder.
1726–31 N. Tindal tr. P. Rapin de Thoyras Hist. Eng. (1743) II. xvii. 146 Being impatient to return with his plunder to England.
1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. vii The soldiers themselves, among whom this sacrilegious plunder was distributed, received it with a blush.
1848 H. H. Wilson Hist. Brit. India 1805–35 III. v. 428 The instigator of the depredations..sharing in the plunder.
1891 J. C. Atkinson Last of Giant-killers 105 That..plunder..which..you keep hugger-muggered up in..your cave.
1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 68/1 Kissed off, defrauded of share of loot or plunder.
1992 A. W. Eckert Sorrow in our Heart iii. 214 Chiksika and Tecumseh..came home with three half-kegs of whiskey they had taken as part of the plunder on an attack against whites.
b. Wealth, property, or assets acquired from others by extortionate, dishonest, or questionable methods; (colloquial) profit, gain.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > stolen goods > [noun] > property acquired by theft or fraud
picking1749
plunder1790
weeding dues1819
loot1839
take1888
knock-off1963
society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > profit > [noun]
earningeOE
issuea1325
lucrec1380
lucre of gainc1386
return1419
feracityc1420
revenue1427
vantagec1430
afframing1440
revenue1440
availc1449
proventc1451
provenuec1487
rent1513
fardel1523
chevisance1535
gains1546
commodity1577
proceed1578
increasal1601
benefit1606
endowment1615
gaininga1631
superlucration1683
profit1697
bunce1706
making1837
bunt1851
plunder1851
yield1877
recovery1931
earner1970
1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 180 They would not hear of transferring the whole plunder of the kingdom to the stock-holders in Paris. View more context for this quotation
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 175/2 ‘I'll get more for it in the cavaldry..there's better plunder there.’ (Plunder, I may explain, is a common word in the horse trade to express profit.)
1873 A. Trollope Eustace Diamonds III. lxii. 113 She wished that Patience Crabstick had gone off safely with her plunder to the Antipodes.
1928 Chambers's Jrnl. Feb. 99/2 He kept on lifting the betting, merely to increase his plunder.
1991 Country Living (BNC) June 86 There she found..a garden overflowing with good ideas and benign horticultural plunder from the Mediterranean.
3. Chiefly U.S. regional (southern). Personal belongings or household goods; luggage, baggage. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > personal or movable property
feec888
goodOE
chateus1297
moblea1325
farec1330
harness1340
gearc1380
plentiesc1384
goods and cattel1418
pelfa1425
testament1424
movables1428
personals1436
stuff1438
cattle1473
cabow1489
chattel1549
chattel personal1552
goods and chattels1576
luggage1624
corporeals1647
effects1657
chose1670
personalities1753
stock1776
plunder1780
personal effects1818
personalty1827
taonga1863
marbles1864
1780 E. Fay Let. 12 Feb. in Orig. Lett. from India (1817) 141 There was such a noise without, of breaking and tearing, to come at their plunder, as convinced me that should we once lose sight of our little property, every thing was lost.
1805 M. Lewis Jrnl. 10 July in Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1987) IV. 371 I dispatched Sergt. Ordway with 4 Canoes and 8 men to take up a load of baggage as far as Capt. Clark's camp and return for the remainder of our plunder.
1817 J. K. Paulding Lett. from South I. 38 We accordingly set forth on horseback, carrying our plunder (as the Virginians call baggage) in a light Jersey wagon.
1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie I. ii. 31 You seem to have but little plunder, stranger, for one who is so far abroad.
1890 E. B. Custer Following Guidon vi. 76 'Tain't no kind..of use to try to lift my plunder now.
1931 F. L. Goodrich Mountain Homespun 31 It's got six rooms in it and some other little rooms where she keeps her plunder.
1941 E. P. O'Donnell Great Big Doorstep 119 Your father puts on more every time he tells that there story. The plunder that man's got in his head! The plunder!
1962 W. Stegner Wolf Willow (1963) iii. ii. 160 He gathers together his plunder and he hightails her off the mountain.
1975 J. McKennon Horse Dung Trail xi. 236 We've got five cars of show plunder right now that we have no use for.
Compounds
General attributive, instrumental, and objective.In quot. 1767 in a parody of Johnsonian style.
ΚΠ
1646 Querela Cantabrigiensis 13 They have constituted a decay'd Hatter, Plunder-master Generall.
1767 A. Campbell Lexiphanes 19 On a vicinary bench, sate a plunder-fed soldier.
1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities ii. ix. 81 He might have been at a loss to claim his own from the ghastly, fire-charred, plunder-wrecked ruins.
1939 R. Campbell Flowering Rifle vii. 144 Till safely o'er the border he can shark it To Perpignan, the Jewish plunder-market.
1961 Daily Tel. 25 Feb. 15/1 He gave an example of the jargon used [at mock auctions]: The top man operates his joint by nailing the steamers among the plunder-snatchers.
1999 BusinessWorld (Philippines) (Nexis) 8 Oct. 12 Mr. Sapitula is facing a plunder charge before a Quezon City court.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† plunderv.1
Obsolete.
transitive. To confuse, confound, muddle. Chiefly in past participle.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > act of perplexing > confuse, perplex, bewilder [verb (transitive)]
abobc1330
confusec1350
confoundc1374
cumbera1375
passc1384
maskerc1400
mopc1425
enose1430
manga1450
overmusec1460
perplex1477
maze1482
enmuse1502
ruffle?a1505
unsteady1532
entangle1540
duddle1548
intricate1548
distraught1579
distract1582
mizzle1583
moider1587
amuse1595
mist1598
bepuzzle1599
gravel1601
plunder1601
puzzle1603
intrigue1612
vexa1613
metagrobolize?a1616
befumea1618
fuddle1617
crucify1621
bumfiddlea1625
implicate1625
giddify1628
wilder1642
buzzlea1644
empuzzle1646
dunce1649
addle1652
meander1652
emberlucock1653
flounder1654
study1654
disorient1655
embarrass?1656
essome1660
embrangle1664
jumble1668
dunt1672
muse1673
clutter1685
emblustricate1693
fluster1720
disorientate1728
obfuscate1729
fickle1736
flustrate1797
unharmonize1797
mystify1806
maffle1811
boggle1835
unballast1836
stomber1841
throw1844
serpentine1850
unbalance1856
tickle1865
fog1872
bumfuzzle1878
wander1897
to put off1909
defeat1914
dither1919
befuddle1926
ungear1931
to screw up1941
1601 [implied in: A. Dent Plaine Mans Path-way to Heauen 282 Howsoeuer they might by wit and learning shuffle it ouer, and in a plondred sort, speake reason: yet had they no feeling of that which they said. (at plundered adj.1)].
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Academié,..besotted, puzled, or plundered, with too much skill or studying.
1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper iii. 228 Our peace both of Church and Common-wealth hath beene a little plundered and perplexed.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
plunderv.2
/ˈplʌndə/, U.S. /ˈpləndər/ 1.
a. transitive. To rob (a place or person) of goods or valuables forcibly, typically in a time of war or civil disorder or in the course of a hostile incursion; to pillage, ransack; to rob systematically; to despoil. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > sacking, raiding, or looting > sack, raid, or loot [verb (transitive)]
reaveOE
harrowc1000
ravishc1325
spoil1382
forayc1400
forage1417
riflea1425
distrussc1430
riotc1440
detruss1475
sacka1547
havoc1575
sackage1585
pillagea1593
ravage1602
yravish1609
boot-hale1610
booty-hale1610
plunder1632
forage1642
rape1673
prig1819
loot1845
raid1875
1632 Swedish Intelligencer ii. 179 The Swedish Dragoones..plundered the Townes of Wurtbach and Waldsee, neere unto Weingarten.
1641 in M. Hickson Ireland in 17th Cent. (1884) II. App. U. 363 [In county Monaghan] there being a little plantation of British, the rebels plundered the town.
1684 Scanderbeg Redivivus v. 119 Twelve Thousand Persons made Prisoners, and the Town first plundred and then Burnt.
a1699 in C. Mackay Coll. Songs London Prentices (1841) 96 To the tire-howse broke they in, Which some began to plunder.
1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 166 Hunting about for Gold in the Brooks and small Streams,..and that after they had, as it were, plundered them at the first Discovery.
1769 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. xxxv. 42 The people of Ireland have been uniformly plundered and oppressed.
1787 tr. J. P. C. de Florian Adventures Numa Pompilius II. xi. 202 A bird who, returning with provision for her young, finds her nest plundered.
1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) IV. xxxiii. 308 The royal troops plundered the camp of all that fell in their way.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xiv. 424 A crowd of negligent or ravenous functionaries..plundered, starved, and poisoned the armies and fleets of William.
1904 J. Conrad Nostromo ii. viii Sotillo's ideas did not soar above the care for his personal safety and the chance of plundering the town in his charge.
1953 T. C. Bryan Confederate Georgia ix. 152 In the fall of 1864 bands of Tories were plundering northeast Georgia.
1993 Campaign Rep. (Greenpeace) Mar. 3/1 At present, mahogany loggers plunder the rainforest with impunity.
2005 Halifax (Nova Scotia) Daily News (Nexis) 7 Apr. 16 Weeping women, screaming children are rounded up by soldiers. Homes are plundered. Livestock is butchered.
b. transitive. To take material from (literature, artistic or academic work, etc.) for one's own purposes.
ΚΠ
1896 A. Beardsley Let. 29 Oct. (1970) 193 How abominably she [sc. George Sand] has been plundered by everyone since.
1964 T. M. Andersson Probl. Icelandic Saga Origins v. 90 Eiriks saga rauða and Grettis saga combine to show that when Landnáma was used, it was plundered wholesale and not plucked for an occasional name.
1999 ‘Eurydice’ Satyricon USA 14 Academia was plundering sexual testimonies for topics.
2002 List (Glasgow & Edinb. Events Guide) 25 Apr. 44/2 How come the Strokes can shamelessly plunder history and come out smelling of roses, and Ocean Colour Scene are a national joke?
2. intransitive. To commit an act or acts of pillage or depredation. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > spoliation or depredation > commit depredation [verb (intransitive)]
reaveOE
preyc1325
pillc1390
spoilc1400
spreathc1425
rive1489
poinda1500
to rug and reavea1500
to pill and poll1528
pilfer1548
fleece1575
plunder1642
spulyie1835
1642 W. Prynne Moderate Reply to Declaration sig. A2 But here followes another wonder that those men who plunder without giving any warning, should finde fault with Sir Edward Bayntons warrant.
1693 tr. J. Le Clerc Mem. Count Teckely iv. 57 The Imperialists on their side plundered upon the Turks.
1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 98 The Power of Avarice was so strong in some, that they would run any Hazard to steal and to plunder.
1786 T. Jefferson Let. 12 Oct. in Papers (1954) X. 447 All Europe is made to believe we are a lawless banditti, in a state of absolute anarchy, cutting one another's throats, and plundering without distinction.
1845 S. Austin tr. L. von Ranke Hist. Reformation in Germany III. 447 When the Hungarians..pushed on..westward, plundering and laying waste by the way.
1865 D. Livingstone & C. Livingstone Narr. Exped. Zambesi xix. 382 A nest of lake pirates who sallied out by night to kill and plunder.
1895 H. L. Call Coming Revolution v. 75 To support privilege and plunder there must be labor to plunder from.
1954 G. Davies Wellington & his Army i. 19 The soldiers who spent the night after Vittoria plundering so that they were too fatigued for a vigorous pursuit the next day.
1988 P. Heath Church & Realm ii. 73 The king's friends often exploited the vulnerability of the Contrariants in order to plunder and pillage with virtual immunity.
3. transitive. To take (goods, valuables, etc.) as plunder; to appropriate forcibly, illegally, etc. Also figurative and in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > spoliation or depredation > despoil or prey upon [verb (transitive)] > make a spoil of (something)
stripc1200
spoilc1380
riflec1391
pilla1393
spoila1400
bezzlec1430
peelc1450
despoil1483
spulyie1488
strip1594
prey1596
pillage1600
plunder1643
scoff1893
1643 P. Heylyn Let. Gentleman of Leicester-shire 28 Their goods plundered, their estates sequestred, nay, given away.
1645 D. Featley Καταβάπτισται Κατάπτυστοι: Dippers Dipt (ed. 3) 231 The graces of the Spirit, which cannot be plundered.
1651 J. Ussher Let. in R. Parr Life J. Usher (1686) Coll. ccxlvi. 543 Those..I can by no means find, and do much fear that they were plundred, among my other Books and Papers, by the rude Welch in Glamorganshire.
1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 60 The Magistrate..ordered the House to be broken open, a Constable, and other Persons being appointed to be present, that nothing might be plundred.
1774 O. Goldsmith Grecian Hist. II. iii. 235 The inhabitants..were determined to plunder Darius's treasures.
1826 J. F. Cooper Last of Mohicans I. x. 132 The others were busily occupied in seeking to gratify their childish passion for finery, by plundering even the miserable effects of the scout.
1853 C. Brontë Villette I. x. 178 The cupboard of the store-room, where she would plunder the preserves, drink the sweet wine, break jars and bottles, [etc.].
1883 J. W. Sherer At Home & in India 141 Wrecking a village,..unroofing the houses and plundering the sweetmeats and grain.
1953 A. Norton Star Rangers 7 Space pirates raised flags and recruited fleets to gorge on spoil plundered from this wreckage.
1998 Garden Answers Sept. 2 Some garden furniture labelled as using ‘timber from sustainable sources’ has been proved to be made of hardwood plundered from irreplaceable Asian rainforests.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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