corsair
English
WOTD – 25 July 2006
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)
- A French privateer, especially from the port of St-Malo
- 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."
- 1840, Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, Chapter 34.
- The ship of privateers or pirates, especially of French nationality
- A nocturnal assassin bug of the genus Rasahus, found in the southern USA.
- A Californian market fish (Sebastes rosaceus).
Synonyms
- (pirate): see Thesaurus:pirate
Derived terms
Translations
privateersman or pirate
Further reading
corsair on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Assassin bug on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Peiratinae on Wikispecies.Wikispecies Reduviidae on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
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