privateer
A privately owned warship that acted under a letter of marque to attack enemy merchant…A privately owned warship that acted under a letter of marque to attack enemy merchant ships and take possession of their cargo.
» A privateer is not a pirate.
Meaning
5 senses(historical)A privately owned warship that acted under a letter of marque to attack enemy merchant ships and take possession of their cargo.
Kaperschiff
ка́перkáper, корса́рkorsár, привати́рprivatír
a privately owned warship commissioned to prey on the commercial shipping or warships of an enemy nation
(historical)An officer or any other member of the crew of such a ship; a government-sanctioned pirate.
Freibeuter
корсарkorsar
an officer or crew member of a privateer
An advocate or beneficiary of privatization of a government service or activity.
(Australia, Canada, US)A private individual entrant into a race or competition who does not have the backing of a large, professional team.
A racing team that is not a subsidiary of a large conglomerate, or automotive or vehicle manufacturer.
Examples
2 sentencesA privateer is not a pirate.
Pirates, buccaneers and privateers are not synonyms.
dePiraten, Seeräuber und Freibeuter sind keine Synonyme.
Translations
7 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
By meaning 2
Origin
From private + -eer probably after volunteer, shortened from the original term "private maFrom private + -eer probably after volunteer, shortened from the original term "private man-of-war".
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: privateers| Singular | privateer |
|---|---|
| Plural | privateers |
regular
Synonyms
1 synonyms- an officer or crew member of a privateer:privateersman