plündern

Meaning

(intransitive, transitive, weak) to loot; to plunder; to pillage; to raid (to steal large amounts (from), especially in a state of war or catastrophe)
(colloquial, transitive, weak) to take or buy a lot from (e.g. a refrigerator, a shop)

snatch away

spoliate

ausplündern

räubern

zu Grunde richten

völlig zerstören

devastieren

verheeren

herfallen über

verwüsten

in Schutt und Asche legen

wegnehmen

Plagiat begehen

grabschen

aus der Hand reißen

verzücken

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈplʏn.dɐn/

Inherited from Middle High German

Cognate with Middle Low German

Cognate with Dutch

Cognate with Western Frisian

Cognate with English

Cognate with German

In summary

From Middle High German plundern, plunderen, from Middle Low German plunderen, plünderen, plünren, from Middle Low German plunder, plonder (“robbery, plunder", originally "thing, stuff”), related to Middle Low German plunde, plünde (“junk, stuff, rags, old clothes”), of obscure ultimate origin. This is first attested in medieval records, which according to Gijsseling, is therefore too late to be considered a substrate word. Due to the lack of obvious cognates in other languages from which it would have been loaned, it could have developed as some slang word in Lower Saxony/the Low Countries. Compare Middle Low German plundich (“raggedy, tattered, shabby”). Cognate with Dutch plunderen, West Frisian plonderje, and (by borrowing from Early Modern German) English plunder. Related also to German Plunder (“stuff”).

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