pillage

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to rob a place of valuable goods by force, especially during war or civil disorder

   The commander warned his soldiers not to pillage the villages along their route.

2. 2
   noun

   the violent theft of property from a place, especially during war or unrest

   The archive records the pillage of homes and temples after the city fell.

3. 3
   noun

   property seized by force; loot

   The raiders loaded their pillage onto carts before retreating.

From Old French pillage, from piller, 'to plunder'. The French verb probably continues a Late Latin use of pilare, originally 'to strip of hair', whose image of stripping bare was extended to taking a place's possessions.

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