Dacoit
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A bandit or armed robber, especially in former parts of British India. India, Myanmar, Pakistan
"1893, Bithia Mary Croker, "The Dâk Bungalow at Dakor" in "To Let" etc., Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1906, p. 118, https://archive.org/details/toletcroker00crok […] she had harangued us on the subject of fever and cholera and bad water, had warned us solemnly against dacoits, and now she was hinting at ghosts."
- 2 a member of an armed gang of robbers wordnet
- 1 To commit armed robbery. India
Example
More examples"1893, Bithia Mary Croker, "The Dâk Bungalow at Dakor" in "To Let" etc., Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1906, p. 118, https://archive.org/details/toletcroker00crok […] she had harangued us on the subject of fever and cholera and bad water, had warned us solemnly against dacoits, and now she was hinting at ghosts."
Etymology
Borrowed from Hindustani ڈکیت / डकैत (ḍakait), from ڈاکا (ḍākā) / डाका (ḍākā, “gang-robbery”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.