sea rover
- noun
- /siː ˈroʊvər/
- Archaic
:
pirata
- The infamous sea rover was known for attacking merchant vessels along the coast.
Examples
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Unlike a privateer, a sea rover operated without any government authority.
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Many sea rovers were captured by the navy.
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Legends tell of a daring sea rover who buried his treasure on a deserted island.
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The infamous sea rover terrorized the coastal towns.
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The infamous sea rover was known for attacking merchant vessels along the coast.
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Legends tell of a daring sea rover who buried his treasure on a deserted island.
-
Unlike a privateer, a sea rover operated without any government authority.
Synonyms
356
3.3
A person who attacks and robs ships at sea
29
5.1
A person who enters a place to steal things by force
24
9.5
A pirate who attacks and robs ships at sea
1
7.2
A person who steals things by force from places like shops or homes during war
1
9.9
A person who steals goods during war, often from villages or ships
1
9.9
A pirate from the North African coast who attacks ships and coastal towns
A person who steals from ships or coastal towns
A sailor who attacks and steals from other ships, often in past wars
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'sea' (the ocean) with 'rover' (one who roves or travels); a B1 learner who knows both words can infer something that travels or explores the sea. This follows a regular noun–noun composition pattern (domain + agent/vehicle) found cross-linguistically, so the intended sense of a vessel or traveler of the sea is predictable.
Etymology
Sea rover comes from the old word rover, meaning someone who wanders. Picture a person who wanders the sea, moving from ship to ship to steal goods, so it came to mean 'a pirate'.