Meanings
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*Hrew-?
- Proto-Indo-European*Hrewp-
- Proto-Germanic*raubōną
- Frankish*raubōn
- Late Latinraubāre
- Old Frenchrober
- Old Frenchroberie
- Middle Englishrobberie
- Englishrobbery
From Middle English robberie, robry, roberie, from Old French roberie, from the verb rober (“to steal; to pillage”) + -ie. Ultimately from unattested Frankish *raubōn. By surface analysis, rob + -ery. Compare Dutch roverij (“robbery”), Norwegian Bokmål røveri (“robbery”), German Räuberei (“robbery, banditry”). Displaced native Old English rēaflāc.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Frankish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek λῃστεία
- λῃστεία (lēisteía)act or practice of robbing
Arabic سَرِقَة, لُصُوصِيَّة
- سَرِقَة (sariqa)act or practice of robbing
- لُصُوصِيَّة (luṣūṣiyya)act or practice of robbing
Bulgarian грабе́ж, о́бир
- грабе́ж (grabéž)act or practice of robbing
- о́бир (óbir)act or practice of robbing
Catalan robatori
- robatoriact or practice of robbing
Chinese Mandarin 搶劫 /抢劫
- 搶劫 /抢劫 (qiǎngjié)act or practice of robbing
Czech loupež
- loupežact or practice of robbing
Danish røveri, røveriforsøg
- røveriact or practice of robbing
- røveriforsøgattempt of taking the property of another by threat
Dutch roof, beroving
- roofact or practice of robbing
- berovingact or practice of robbing
Esperanto rabo, rabado
- raboact or practice of robbing
- rabadoact or practice of robbing
Finnish ryöstö, ryöstely
- ryöstöact or practice of robbing
- ryöstelyact or practice of robbing
- ryöstäminenact or practice of robbing
- ryösteleminenact or practice of robbing
- ryöstöattempt of taking the property of another by threat
- kiristysattempt of taking the property of another by threat
French brigandage, vol à main armée
- brigandageact or practice of robbing
- vol à main arméeact or practice of robbing
- banditismeattempt of taking the property of another by threat
- braquageattempt of taking the property of another by threat
German Raub, Raub
- Raubact or practice of robbing
- Raubattempt of taking the property of another by threat
Greek ληστεία
- ληστεία (listeía)act or practice of robbing
Hindi लूट, डाका
- लूट (lūṭ)act or practice of robbing
- डाका (ḍākā)act or practice of robbing
- डाका (ḍākā)attempt of taking the property of another by threat
Hungarian rablás
- rablásact or practice of robbing
Italian furto, ruberia
- furtoact or practice of robbing
- ruberiaact or practice of robbing
- rapinaact or practice of robbing
Japanese 強盗
- 強盗act or practice of robbing
Korean 강도
- 강도 (gangdo)act or practice of robbing
Latin latrocinium
- latrociniumact or practice of robbing
Malay rompakan
- rompakanact or practice of robbing
Norwegian Bokmål ran, røveri
- ranact or practice of robbing
- røveriact or practice of robbing
Persian دستبرد, سرقت
- دستبرد (dastbord)act or practice of robbing
- سرقت (serqat)act or practice of robbing
Polish napad, rabunek
- napadact or practice of robbing
- rabunekact or practice of robbing
- grabieżact or practice of robbing
- rozbójact or practice of robbing
- rozbójattempt of taking the property of another by threat
Portuguese roubo, furto
- rouboact or practice of robbing
- furtoact or practice of robbing
- assaltoattempt of taking the property of another by threat
Russian грабёж, ограбле́ние
- грабёж (grabjóž)act or practice of robbing
- ограбле́ние (ograblénije)act or practice of robbing
- разбо́й (razbój)act or practice of robbing
- ограбле́ние (ograblénije)attempt of taking the property of another by threat
Slovak lúpež
- lúpežact or practice of robbing
Spanish robo, choreo
- roboact or practice of robbing
- choreoact or practice of robbing
- shacamentoact or practice of robbing
- hurtoact or practice of robbing
- furtoact or practice of robbing
Swedish rån, rån
- rånact or practice of robbing
- rånattempt of taking the property of another by threat
Tamil கொள்ளை
- கொள்ளை (koḷḷai)act or practice of robbing
Turkish soygun
- soygunact or practice of robbing
Ukrainian грабі́ж, грабу́нок
- грабі́ж (hrabíž)act or practice of robbing
- грабу́нок (hrabúnok)act or practice of robbing
- грабі́жка (hrabížka)act or practice of robbing
Vietnamese cướp giật
- cướp giậtact or practice of robbing
Cite this entry
APA
robbery. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/robbery
MLA
“robbery.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/robbery. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “robbery,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/robbery.
Source: robbery on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.