Where does “pirate” come from?

pirate (Old French) comes from Latin pīrāta, from Ancient Greek πειρατής, from Ancient Greek -τής, from Ancient Greek πεῖρα, from Proto-Indo-European per-, from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós — passed , crossed.

pirate (Old French): pirate (one who attacks watercraft)

Definitions

  1. pirate (one who attacks watercraft)

Ancestry of “pirate”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinpīrātapirate
2Ancient Greekπειρατήςbrigand, robber
3Ancient Greek-τήςAppended to verbs to form agent nouns
4Ancient Greekπεῖραtrial, experiment, attempt
5Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
6Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

Words derived from “pirate”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →Every word from Proto-Indo-European per- →Every word from Ancient Greek -τής →