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Origin and history of maraud

maraud(v.)

"to rove in quest of plunder, make an excursion for booty," especially of organized bands of soldiers, etc., 1711, from French marauder (17c.), from maraud "rascal" (15c.), a word of unknown origin, perhaps from French dialectal maraud "tomcat," echoic of its cry.

A word popularized in several languages during the Thirty Years' War (Spanish merodear, German marodiren, marodieren "to maraud," marodebruder "straggler, deserter") by punning association with Count Mérode, imperialist general. Related: Marauded; marauding.

also from 1711

Entries linking to maraud

marauder(n.)

"a rover in quest of booty or plunder," 1690s, agent noun from maraud (v.).

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    Trends of maraud

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    air-raid
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    late 14c., retribucioun, "repayment," from Old French retribution, retribucion, and directly from Latin retributionem (nominative retributio) "recompense, repayment," noun of action from past-participle stem of retribuere "hand back, repay," from re- "back" (see re-) + tribuere "
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