πειρατής

From πειράω (peiráō) (“to attempt, attack”) + -τής (-tḗs), from πεῖρα (peîra) (“trial, attempt”), ultimately from PIE *per- (“to try, risk”). Not related to περάτης (perátēs) (“wanderer”), from περάω (peráō) (“to cross”).

πειρᾱτής • (peirātḗs) m (genitive πειρᾱτοῦ); first declension

1. brigand, robber; especially a sea-raider, pirate
   • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, 4 6.1:

     καὶ κατὰ μὲν θάλατταν παραχρῆμα πειρατὰς ἐξέπεμψαν

     kaì katà mèn thálattan parakhrêma peiratàs exépempsan

     And immediately they sent out pirates by sea

   • 64 BCE – 24 CE, Strabo, 14 3.2:

     αὐτοὶ πειρατεύοντες ἢ τοῖς πειραταῖς λαφυροπώλια καὶ ναύσταθμα παρέχοντες

     autoì peirateúontes ḕ toîs peirataîs laphuropṓlia kaì naústathma parékhontes

     engaging in piracy themselves, or providing markets and harbours for pirates

   • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Lucullus 2:

     τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν σκαφῶν ἀπέβαλε πειρατῶν ἐπιφανέντων

     tà pleîsta tôn skaphôn apébale peiratôn epiphanéntōn

     he lost most of his vessels when pirates appeared

   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, Job 16.10:

     βέλη πειρατῶν αὐτοῦ ἐπ’ ἐμοὶ ἔπεσεν

     bélē peiratôn autoû ep’ emoì épesen

     the arrows of brigands fell upon me

• πειρατής (peiratḗs) denotes a plunderer or raider, especially one operating at sea (“pirate”). In earlier Greek, similar activity is often denoted by λῃστής (lēistḗs); πειρατής (peiratḗs) emerges as a later, more specialized term for maritime robbery.

• Greek: πειρατής (peiratís)
• → Latin: pīrāta
  • → Catalan: pirata
  • → Old French: pirate
    • Middle French: pirate
      • French: pirate
      • → Dutch: piraat
    • Norman: pirate
    • → Middle English: pirate
      • English: pirate
  • Italian: pirata, pirato (obsolete)
    • → German: Pirat
  • Portuguese: pirata
  • Sicilian: pirata, piratu
  • Spanish: pirata
  • → Translingual: Pirata
• → Translingual: Peirates

• λῃστής (lēistḗs)
• περάτης (perátēs)

• πειρατής in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• “πειρατής”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press

From Ancient Greek πειρατής (peiratḗs).

• IPA^(key): /pi.raˈtis/

πειρατής • (peiratís) m (plural πειρατές, feminine πειρατίνα)

1. pirate, corsair

   Synonym: κουρσάρος (koursáros)

   Πειρατές του Αιγαίου ― Peiratés tou Aigaíou ― Pirates of the Aegean Sea

2. (figuratively) copier of copyright materials