corsair

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈkɔrsɛr/ UK /ˈkɔːsɛə/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
a pirate or privateer, especially of the Barbary Coast

A corsair's ship loomed out of the morning fog off the cape.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a pirate or privateer,... pirateprivateerbuccaneer freebooter raider

Word family

Related forms course cursorcorsairing

Etymology

From Middle French 'corsaire', from Medieval Latin 'cursarius' ('pirate'), from 'cursus' ('a run, raid'), from Latin 'currere' ('to run').

corsaire Middle French cursus Latin currere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

# corsair

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈkɔrsɛr
**IPA (UK):** ˈkɔːsɛə

## Meanings
1. a pirate or privateer, especially of the Barbary Coast

## Examples
- A corsair's ship loomed out of the morning fog off the cape.

## Synonyms
- pirate
- privateer
- buccaneer
- freebooter
- raider

## Related Forms
- course
- cursor
- corsairing

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: corsaire
- Root: cursus
- Root: currere

## Etymology
From Middle French 'corsaire', from Medieval Latin 'cursarius' ('pirate'), from 'cursus' ('a run, raid'), from Latin 'currere' ('to run').

## AI Etymology
Corsair is from Middle French 'corsaire', from Medieval Latin 'cursarius' ('pirate'), from 'cursus' ('a run, raid'), from Latin 'currere' ('to run'). The ancestry passes through Middle French corsaire, Latin cursus, and Latin currere. In present use as a noun, it means "a pirate or privateer, especially of the Barbary Coast", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include course, cursor, and corsairing. The surrounding word family keeps the same base visible in course, cursor, and corsairing, showing how the headword belongs to a larger cluster rather than standing alone.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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corsair

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