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Glite Dictionary
🏴‍☠️ Attacking ships legally 🏴‍☠️ To attack ships
to privateering

to privateering

9.0
To attack and capture enemy ships with government permission during war
  • verb
  • /ˌpraɪvɪˈtɪrɪŋ/
  • Archaic
translation icon : actuar como corsario
  • The crew engaged in privateering throughout the war, seizing enemy cargo ships as authorized by the government.

Examples

  • He made his fortune by privateering under a letter of marque from the government.

  • The captain privateered several enemy vessels last year.

  • During the war, several ships began privateering to disrupt enemy trade routes.

  • The crew spent months privateering in the Caribbean, capturing valuable cargo from enemy vessels.

  • They decided to privateer during the war.

  • During the war, several ships began privateering under government orders to disrupt enemy trade routes.

  • He made his fortune by privateering with a government letter of marque during the conflict.

Surface Forms

privateer infinitive
privateered past
privateered past participle
privateering present participle
privateers third person singular

Morphology

privateering = privateer (opaque) = privateer + ing

The verb form 'privateer' is not commonly known, making the derivation to 'privateering' less transparent.

Etymology

Privateering as a verb comes from private 'not public' because it describes private ships doing the attacking with government permission. So to privateer is to act like a pirate but with a 'letter of marque' that makes the actions legal.