spoil

The story

1. Latinspolium
2. Latinspoliāre
3. Old Frenchespoillier
4. Middle Englishspoilen
5. English todayspoil

From Middle English spoilen, spuylen, borrowed from Old French espoillier, espollier, espuler, from Latin spoliō, spoliāre (“pillage, ruin, spoil”).

First known use, by meaning

• from 14th c. To strip (someone who has been killed or defeated) of arms or armour.
• from 14th c. To strip or deprive (someone) of possessions; to rob, despoil.
• from 14th c. To plunder, pillage (a city, country etc.).
• 14th–19th c. To carry off (goods) by force; to steal.
• from 16th c. To ruin; to damage in such a way as to make undesirable or unusable.
• from 17th c. To ruin the character of, by overindulgence; to coddle or pamper to excess.
• from 17th c. To go bad; to become sour or rancid; to decay.
• from 19th c. To render (a ballot) invalid by deliberately defacing.