maraud
English
Etymology
From French marauder, derivative of maraud (“rogue, vagabond”), from Middle French maraud (“rascal”), from Old French *marault (“beggar, vagabond”), from marir, marrir (“to trouble, stray, lose ones way, be lost”), from Old Frankish *marrijan (“to neglect, hinder”), from Proto-Germanic *marzijaną (“to neglect, hinder, spoil”), from Proto-Indo-European *mers- (“to trouble, confuse, ignore, forget”), + Old French suffix -ault, -aud. Cognate with Old High German marrjan, marren (“to obstruct, hinder”), Old Saxon merrian (“to hinder, waste”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐍂𐌶𐌾𐌰𐌽 (marzjan, “to offend”). Related to mar.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /məˈɹɔːd/
- (US) IPA(key): /məˈɹɔd/
- (General New Zealand) IPA(key): /mɘˈɹoːd/
Verb
maraud (third-person singular simple present marauds, present participle marauding, simple past and past participle marauded)
- (intransitive) To move about in roving fashion looking for plunder.
- a marauding band
- 1684, Thomas Otway, The Works of Mr. Thomas Otway, volume 2, London: Richard, James, and Bethel Wellington, published 1728, The Atheist; or the Second Part of the Soldier's Fortune, page 88:
- Peace Plunder, Peace, you Rogue; no Moroding now i we'll burn, rob, demolish and murder another time together : This is a Bus'ness must be done with decency.
- 1711, Joseph Addison, The Spectator, no. 90-505, volume 3, London: Thomas Tickell, published 1721, page 115:
- […] in one of which they met with a party of French that had been marauding, and made them all prisoners at discretion.
- (intransitive) To go about aggressively or in a predatory manner.
- (transitive) To raid and pillage.
- 1829, Washington Irving, A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada: In Two Volumes, volume 1, Paris: Baudry, at the Foreign Library, page 118-9:
- As the tract of country they intended to maraud was far in the Moorish territories near the coast of the Mediterranean, they did not arrive until late in the following day.
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Usage notes
The verb and adjective are more common as “marauding”.