buccaneer
pronunciation
How to pronounce buccaneer in British English:
UK [ˌbʌkəˈnɪə(r)]
How to pronounce buccaneer in American English:
US [ˌbʌkəˈnɪr]
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- Noun:
- someone who robs at sea or plunders the land from the sea without having a commission from any sovereign nation
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- Verb:
- live like a buccaneer
Word Origin
- buccaneer
- buccaneer: [17] A buccaneer was originally ‘someone who dried meat on a wooden frame over a fire’. The word comes ultimately from mukem, the term for such a frame in the Tupi language of the Caribbean islands, which in the mouths of early French settlers became boucan (the Haitian term was barbacoa, from which we get barbecue). French boucanier thus came to be applied in the 17th century to a woodsman in the West Indies who prepared his food in such a way; such men were fairly lawless, and took to piratical ways, bringing their name with them in the late 17th century.
- buccaneer (n.)
- 1660s, from French boucanier "user of a boucan," a native grill for roasting meat, from Tupi mukem (rendered in Portuguese as moquem c. 1587): "initial b and m are interchangeable in the Tupi language" [Klein]. For Haitian variant barbacoa, see barbecue. Originally used of French settlers working as hunters and woodsmen in the Spanish West Indies, a lawless and piratical set after they were driven from their trade by Spanish authorities in the 1690s.
Example
- 1. Known for his bravery and leadership , henry morgan was perhaps the most famous buccaneer of all time .
- 2. A buccaneer who raided spanish colonies in the west indies for the english .
- 3. They will point out that , many years before cook arrived in sydney in 1770 , australia had already been visited by dutchmen abel tasman and dirk hartog , and an english buccaneer , william dampier .
- 4. He added that special italian forces on board the san giorgio italian military vessel have confirmed that they were boarding the buccaneer and were able to check that the pirates had freed the ship and that the crew had resumed full control .