''corsair'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260917002803-00-⌔

corsair - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Noun

corsair (plural corsairs)

• A French privateer, especially from the port of Saint-Malo.
• A privateer or pirate in general.
  • ✤ Synonyms: see Thesaurus: pirate
  • ✤ “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.”¹
• The ship of such privateers or pirates, especially of French nationality.
• A nocturnal assassin bug of the genus Rasahus, found in the southern USA.
• A Californian market fish (Sebastes rosaceus).

Etymology

Borrowed from French corsaire, from Medieval Latin cursārius (“pirate”), from Latin cursus (“course, a running; plunder, hostile inroad”). Doublet of courser and hussar.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɔːɹsɛəɹ/
• Audio (US): 🔊

Printed 2026-09-17.

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Footnotes

1. 1841 February–November, Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge. Chapter 34.”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, volume III, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC: ↩