pirate
A criminal who plunders at sea; commonly attacking merchant vessels, though often pillaging port towns.
Noun 4 meanings
A criminal who plunders at sea; commonly attacking merchant vessels, though often pillaging port towns.
“You should be cautious due to the Somali pirates.”
An armed ship or vessel that sails for the purpose of plundering other vessels.
One who breaks intellectual property laws by reproducing protected works without permission.
A bird which practises kleptoparasitism.
Verb 4 meanings
To appropriate by piracy; to plunder at sea.
“They pirated the tanker and sailed to a port where they could sell the ship and cargo.”
To create and/or sell an unauthorized copy of.
To knowingly obtain an unauthorized copy of.
“Not willing to pay full price for the computer game, Heidi pirated a copy.”
To engage in piracy.
“He pirated in the Atlantic for years before becoming a privateer for the Queen.”
Adjective 1 meaning
Illegally imitated or reproduced, said of a trademarked product or copyrighted work, or of the counterfeit itself.
Etymology
From Middle English pirate, pirat, pyrat, from Old French pirate, from Latin pīrāta (“pirate”), from Ancient Greek πειρατής (peiratḗs), from πεῖρα (peîra, “trial, attempt, plot”). Displaced native Old English wīċing, which was the word for both "pirate" and "viking".
Similar and opposite words
PIRATE at a glance
PIRATE has 6 letters and scores 8 points in Scrabble (P 3 + I 1 + R 1 + A 1 + T 1 + E 1) and 9 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #7,477 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with pirate
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