Buccaneer

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)

Origin

French boucanier, from boucaner ("to smoke or broil meat and fish, to hunt wild beasts for their skins").

Full definition of buccaneer

Noun

1. (nautical) Any of a group of seamen who cruised on their own account on the Spanish Main and in the Pacific in the 17th century; similar to pirates but did not prey on ships of their own nation.
2. A pirate.

Synonyms

• pirate

Related terms

• buccaneering

Verb

1. To engage in piracy against any but one's own nation's ships.
• 1963, John Day, Arthur Henry Bullen (editor), The Works of John Day, page vIn 1596 and 1597 he bucaneered against Sao Thomi, the Portuguese slaving settlement off the coast of West Africa, and in the Spanish Main