robber

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Middle English robbour, robbere, either directly taken from or from a calque of Old French robeor. Equivalent to rob +‎ -er.

Compare reaver ("robber, plunderer"), a native English word derived from Proto-Germanic *raubārijaz that is ultimately of more or less the same composition as robber. And compare rover ("a pirate"), another word of the same composition.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

robber (plural robbers)

  1. A person who robs.
  2. An animal who robs.
    • 1907, Frederick William D'Evelyn, “Slaughter of Blue Jays”, in The Condor, volume 9, number 2:
      I remember as a boy in my native land the bad name the common magpie (Pica caudata) had as a destroyer of chickens, and a robber of nests.

Hypernyms[edit]

Hyponyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Noun[edit]

robber

  1. Alternative form of robbour

Middle French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old French rober.

Verb[edit]

robber

  1. (transitive) to pillage; to plunder
  2. (transitive) to steal; to pinch

Conjugation[edit]

  • Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Verb[edit]

robber

  1. present of robbe