Corsair
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A French privateer, especially from the port of Saint-Malo.
- 2 a swift pirate ship (often operating with official sanction) wordnet
- 3 A privateer or pirate in general.
""If I had been born a corsair or a pirate, a brigand, genteel highwayman or patriot―and they're the same thing," thought Mr. Tappertit, musing among the nine-pins, "I should have been all right. But to drag out a ^([sic]) ignoble existence unbeknown to mankind in general―patience! I will be famous yet.""
- 4 a pirate along the Barbary Coast wordnet
- 5 The ship of privateers or pirates, especially of French nationality.
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- 6 A nocturnal assassin bug of the genus Rasahus, found in the southern USA.
- 7 A Californian market fish (Sebastes rosaceus).
Example
More examples""If I had been born a corsair or a pirate, a brigand, genteel highwayman or patriot―and they're the same thing," thought Mr. Tappertit, musing among the nine-pins, "I should have been all right. But to drag out a ^([sic]) ignoble existence unbeknown to mankind in general―patience! I will be famous yet.""
Etymology
Borrowed from French corsaire, from Medieval Latin cursārius (“pirate”), from Latin cursus (“course, a running; plunder, hostile inroad”). Doublet of courser and hussar.
Related phrases
More for "corsair"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.