rapine

See also: rapiñe and rapiñé

English

WOTD – 17 September 2012

Etymology

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French rapine, from Latin rapīna, from rapiō. Compare ravine.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹæpaɪn/

• Audio (US):

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Noun

rapine (countable and uncountable, plural rapines)

1. The seizure of someone's property by force; pillage, plunder.
   • 1848, Thomas Macaulay, “The History of England from the Accession Of James II”

     men who were impelled to war quite as much by the desire of rapine as by the desire of glory

   • Template:RQ:RnhrtHpwd Bat

     The Bat—they called him the Bat. Like a bat he chose the night hours for his work of rapine; like a bat he struck and vanished, pouncingly, noiselessly; like a bat he never showed himself to the face of the day.

   • 1951, Isaac Asimov, Foundation (1974 Panther Books Ltd publication), Part V: “The Merchant Princes”, Ch.10, pp.157–158:

     “You could join Wiscard’s remnants in the Red Stars. I don’t know, though, if you’d call that fighting or piracy. Or you could join our present gracious viceroy — gracious by right of murder, pillage, rapine, and the word of a boy Emperor, since rightfully assassinated.”

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

Translations

seizure of someone's property by force

• Armenian: կողոպուտ (hy) (koġoput), թալան (hy) (tʻalan)
• Dutch: roof (nl) m
• Finnish: ryöstö (fi)
• French: rapine (fr) f
• German: Raub (de) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: rapīna f
• Russian: грабёж (ru) (grabjóž)
• Spanish: saqueo (es) m, rapiña (es) f
• Swedish: röveri n, plundring (sv) c, rov (sv) n

References

• The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (2000).

Verb

1. (transitive) To plunder.
   • (Can we date this quote by Sir G. Buck and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?), History of Richard III:

     A Tyrant doth not only rapine his Subjects, but spoils and robs Churches.

Translations

plunder

• Armenian: կողոպտել (hy) (koġoptel), թալանել (hy) (tʻalanel)
• Dutch: plunderen (nl)
• Finnish: ryöstää (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: гра́бить (ru) (grábitʹ)
• Swedish: plundra (sv)

Anagrams

• Napier, arpine, panier

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Italian

Noun

rapine f

1. plural of rapina

Anagrams

• aprine