despoil

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English

Etymology

From Middle English despoylen, dispoylen, from Old French despoillier ( > French dépouiller), from Latin dēspoliō, dēspoliāre.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /dɪˈspɔɪl/
    • Audio (UK):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɔɪl

Verb

despoil (third-person singular simple present despoils, present participle despoiling, simple past and past participle despoiled)

  1. (transitive) To plunder; to pillage; take spoil from.
  2. (transitive) To violently strip (someone), with indirect object of their possessions etc.; to rob.
  3. (obsolete, transitive or reflexive) To strip (someone) of their clothes; to undress.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book VII:
      So syr Persants doughter dyd as her fader bad her / and soo she wente vnto syr Beaumayns bed / & pryuely she dispoylled her / & leid her doune by hym / & thenne he awoke & sawe her & asked her what she was
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Translations

Noun

despoil (plural despoils)

  1. (obsolete) Plunder; spoliation.

References

Anagrams