corsair

English

WOTD – 25 July 2006
Spanish ship fighting Corsairs

Etymology

Borrowed from French corsaire, from Medieval Latin cursārius (“pirate”), from Latin cursus (“course, a running; plunder, hostile inroad”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkɔːsɛː/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Noun

corsair (plural corsairs)

  1. A French privateer, especially from the port of St-Malo
  2. A privateer or pirate in general
    • 1840, Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, Chapter 34.
      "If I had been born a corsair or a pirate, a brigand, genteel highwayman or patriot―and they're the same thing," thought Mr. Tappertit, musing among the nine-pins, "I should have been all right. But to drag out a [sic] ignoble existence unbeknown to mankind in general―patience! I will be famous yet."
  3. The ship of privateers or pirates, especially of French nationality
  4. A nocturnal assassin bug of the genus Rasahus, found in the southern USA.
  5. A Californian market fish (Sebastes rosaceus).

Synonyms

  • (pirate): see Thesaurus:pirate

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

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