pillage (French)
Where does "pillage" come from?
The French word 'pillage' evolved from the Old French 'pillier', meaning to plunder or strip, combined with the suffix '-age' which denotes an action. Its roots trace back to the Latin 'pilus' for hair, suggesting an original meaning of 'plucking' or 'stripping hair' from a skin. This concept of stripping something bare eventually shifted from agriculture and grooming to the violent looting of property during war.
Full etymology tree
- pillage (French), 'pillage'
- compound of piller (French), 'to plunder; to pillage'
- inherited from piller (Middle French), 'to plunder; to pillage'
- inherited from pillier (Old French), 'to plunder; to pillage'
- inherited from *piliāre (Latin), 'to take'
- blend of pīlāre (Latin), 'inflection of pilō:'
- derived from pilus (Latin), 'A hair.'
- inherited from *pil- (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived from pilus (Latin), 'A hair.'
- blend of spoliāre (Latin), 'inflection of spoliō:'
- blend of pīlāre (Latin), 'inflection of pilō:'
- inherited from *piliāre (Latin), 'to take'
- inherited from pillier (Old French), 'to plunder; to pillage'
- inherited from piller (Middle French), 'to plunder; to pillage'
- suffix -age (French), 'Forming nouns with the sense of "action or result of Xing" or, more rarely, "action related to X".'
- inherited from -age (Middle French), 'forms nouns with the sense of "action or result of Xing" or, more rarely, "action related to X"'
- inherited from -age (Old French), 'forms nouns with the sense of 'action or result of''
- inherited from -āticum (Latin), 'Used to form nouns indicating pertinence to the root verb or noun.'
- derived from -āticus (Latin), 'Used to form adjectives indicating a relation to the root noun or actions related to it.'
- suffix -ātus (Latin), '-ed. Used to form adjectives from nouns indicating the possession of a thing or feature.'
- inherited from *-h₃onh₂- (Proto-Indo-European)
- suffix -icus (Latin), 'of or pertaining to; belonging to; derived from; connected with: -ic, -ish'
- suffix -ātus (Latin), '-ed. Used to form adjectives from nouns indicating the possession of a thing or feature.'
- derived from -āticus (Latin), 'Used to form adjectives indicating a relation to the root noun or actions related to it.'
- inherited from -āticum (Latin), 'Used to form nouns indicating pertinence to the root verb or noun.'
- inherited from -age (Old French), 'forms nouns with the sense of 'action or result of''
- inherited from -age (Middle French), 'forms nouns with the sense of "action or result of Xing" or, more rarely, "action related to X"'
- compound of piller (French), 'to plunder; to pillage'
Ancestors
- piller (French)
- -age (French)
Updated March 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris