Loot

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -uːt
• Homophones: lute

From Middle Dutch loet, loete

Modern Dutch loet}, from Old Dutch *lōta, from Old Frankish *lōtija ("scoop, ladle"), from Proto-Germanic *hlōþþijō ("ladle"), from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂- ("to lay down, deposit, overlay"), from Proto-Indo-European *kel- ("to push, propel, drive"). Cognate with Scots lute, luyt ("scoop, ladle"), West Frisian loete, lete, Middle Low German lōte ("rake"), French louche ("ladle"; < Germanic). Related to lade, ladle.

Alternative forms

• lute

Full definition of loot

Noun

1. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) A kind of scoop or ladle, chiefly used to remove the scum from brine-pans in saltworks.

Attested 1788, a loan from Hindustani लूट/لوٹ (lūṭ, "spoil, booty"), from Sanskrit लुण्ट (luṇṭ, "to rob, plunder").

The verb is from 1842. Fallows (1885) records both the noun and the verb as "Recent. Anglo-Indian".

In origin only applicable to plundering in warfare.

A figurative meaning developed in American English in the 1920s, resulting in a generalized meaning by the 1950s

Noun

1. The act of plundering.the loot of an ancient city
2. plunder, booty, especially from a ransacked city.
3. (colloquial, US) any prize or profit received for free, especially Christmas presents
• 1956 "Free Loot for Children" (LIFE Magazine, 23 April 1956, p. 131)
4. (video games) Items dropped from defeated enemies in video games and online games.

Synonyms

• swag

Related terms

• contraband
• plunder

Verb

1. to steal, especially as part of war, riot or other group violence.
• 1833 "Gunganarian, the leader of the Chooars, continues his system of looting and murder", The asiatic Journal and monthly register for British India and its Dependencies Black, Parbury & Allen, p. 66.
2. (video games) to examine the corpse of a fallen enemy for loot.

Anagrams

• LOTO
• tool