loot

loot · noun, verb¹

1. Sanskrit · derived fromलोप्त्र“booty, stolen property”
2. Hindi · borrowed fromलूट“booty”
3. English todayloot

Borrowed from Hindi लूट (lūṭ, “booty”), either from Sanskrit लोप्त्र (loptra, “booty, stolen property”) or लुण्ट् (luṇṭ, “to rob, plunder”). The figurative meaning developed in American English in the 1920s, resulting in a generalized meaning by the 1950s.

loot · noun²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kleh₂-“to lay down, deposit, overlay”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*hlōþþijō“scoop”
3. Frankish · derived from*lōtija“scoop”
4. Old Dutch · derived from*lōta
5. Middle Dutch · borrowed fromloet
6. English todayloot

Borrowed from Middle Dutch loet or loete (“scoop, shovel, scraper”), from reconstructed Old Dutch *lōta, from Old Frankish *lōtija (“scoop”), from Proto-Germanic *hlōþþijō (“scoop”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂- (“to lay down, deposit, overlay”). Related to lade and ladle, and cognate with Dutch loet, Scots lute or luyt (“scoop”), West Frisian loete or lete, Middle Low German lōte (“rake”), and French louche (“ladle”).

loot · noun³

Clipping.

Words from the same roots