pillage

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɪl.ɪd͡ʒ/, /ˈpɪl.əd͡ʒ/
• Rhymes: -ɪlɪd͡ʒ

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Verb

pillage (third-person singular simple present pillages, present participle pillaging, simple past and past participle pillaged)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To loot or plunder by force, especially in time of war.
   • 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 , but he pillaged indiscriminately in his county.

Translations

Noun

pillage (countable and uncountable, plural pillages)

1. The spoils of war.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     Which pillage they with merry march bring home.

2. The act of pillaging.
   • 2013, Zoë Marriage, Formal Peace and Informal War: Security and Development in Congo:

     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.

Synonyms

• (spoils of war): See Thesaurus:booty

Translations

French

Etymology

From piller +‎ -age.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pi.jaʒ/

Noun

pillage m (plural pillages)

1. pillage

Further reading

• “pillage”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Norman

Etymology

From Old French pillage.

Noun

pillage m (plural pillages)

1. (Jersey) looting

Related terms

• pilleux (“looter”)

Old French

Noun

pillage oblique singular, m (oblique plural pillages, nominative singular pillages, nominative plural pillage)

1. pillaging

Related terms

• piller

Descendants

• → English: pillage