buccaneer
/ˌbʌkəˈnɪɚ/
buccaneer noun: any of a group of seamen who cruised on their own account on the Spanish Main and in the Pacific in the 17th century, who were similar to pirates but did not prey on ships of their own nation.
Noun
buccaneer (plural buccaneers)
- Any of a group of seamen who cruised on their own account on the Spanish Main and in the Pacific in the 17th century, who were similar to pirates but did not prey on ships of their own nation.
- “Heard of him!” cried the squire. “Heard of him, you say! He was the bloodthirstiest buccaneer that sailed.[…]”1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part I (The Old Buccaneer), page 48
- A pirate.
Verb
buccaneer (third-person singular simple present buccaneers, present participle buccaneering, simple past and past participle buccaneered)
- To engage in piracy against any but one's own nation's ships.
- In 1596 and 1597 he bucaneered against Sao Thomi, the Portuguese slaving settlement off the coast of West Africa, and in the Spanish Main1963, John Day, edited by Arthur Henry Bullen, The Works of John Day, page v
buccaneer meaning in Tamil and Malayalam
buccaneer in Tamil
- கடற்கொள்ளையன், துணிச்சலான சாகசக்காரன், செயலில், சில சமயங்களில் இரக்கமற்ற முறையில்
buccaneer in Malayalam
- pirate, marauder, raider
- കടൽക്കള്ളൻ, കടൽക്കൊള്ളക്കാരൻ, കപ്പൽക്കവർച്ചക്കാരൻ, അക്രമി, സാഹസികൻ, കൊള്ളക്കാരൻ
Synonyms of buccaneer
Forms of buccaneer
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | buccaneers |
| alternative form | bucanier |
| alternative form | buccanier |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | buccaneers |
| present participle | buccaneering |
| past participle | buccaneered |
| past | buccaneered |
Origin of buccaneer
From French boucanier, from boucaner (“to smoke or broil meat and fish, to hunt wild beasts for their skins”), from boucan (“(Tupi-style) grill”), from Old Tupi moka'ẽ, mboka'ẽ (“wooden grill”). By surface analysis, buccan + -eer.
Words formed from buccaneer
Words that rhyme with buccaneer
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- spear
- career
- fear
- here
- steer
- appear
- cavalier
- cheer
- leer
- pioneer
- queer
- volunteer
- adhere
- beer
- chandelier
- deer
- financier
- pier
- premier
- privateer
- sheer
- veer
- vizier
- austere
- bombardier
- brigadier
- cashmere
- commandeer
- disappear
- endear
- grenadier
- interfere
- mere
- mountaineer
- peer
- sear
- tear
- tier
- unclear
- arrear
- bier
- blear
- cameleer
- cashier
- chiffonier
- cohere
- fakir
- farseer
Questions about buccaneer
- What does buccaneer mean?
- Buccaneer means any of a group of seamen who cruised on their own account on the Spanish Main and in the Pacific in the 17th century, who were similar to pirates but did not prey on ships of their own nation.
- What is buccaneer in Tamil?
- Buccaneer in Tamil is கடற்கொள்ளையன், துணிச்சலான சாகசக்காரன், செயலில். See Buccaneer meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is buccaneer?
- Buccaneer can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce buccaneer?
- Buccaneer is pronounced /ˌbʌkəˈnɪɚ/.
- What is the plural of buccaneer?
- The plural of buccaneer is buccaneers.
Words near buccaneer in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: buccaneer (page history and authors); buccaneer (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); buccaneer (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-buccaneer.wav.
Cite this entry: “buccaneer.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/buccaneer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.