Etymology

buccaneer

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Today it 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. Full definition →

French boucanier ← Old Tupi mboka'ẽ
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The story

  1. Old Tupimboka'ẽ
  2. Frenchboucan
  3. Frenchboucanier
  4. English todaybuccaneer

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.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.