rapine

[ rap-in, -ahyn ]

noun

1. the violent seizure and carrying off of another's property; plunder.

rapine

/ ˈræpaɪn /

noun

1. the seizure of property by force; pillage

Word History and Origins

Origin of rapine¹

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin rapīna robbery, pillage. See rape ¹, -ine ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of rapine¹

C15: from Latin rapīna plundering, from rapere to snatch

Example Sentences

“The second rapine,” a teacher wrote, “could use a comma as well!”

From Washington Post

“To deny the power would be to deny the right of the state . . . to suppress armed mobs bent on riot and rapine,” the court noted.

From Washington Post

What has gone wrong in Mexico, Cuba, Central America, Venezuela, Peru and Bolivia, Arana sadly concludes, is “what always went wrong: the dictators, the rapine, the seemingly insurmountable indigence, corruption, inefficiency. It’s just our nature.”

From Washington Post

There were bayonetings of surrendered soldiers and mistreatment of prisoners of war and numerous instances of rapine.

From Washington Post

Those lands originally protected by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1901 may not survive Trump and EPA administrator Scott Pruitt's rapine behavior.

From Salon