pirate

pirate — noun

1. an armed robber who travels by ship across the sea, attacking other ships or coa

1.nounB1
Definition

an armed robber who travels by ship across the sea, attacking other ships or coastal towns to steal money, cargo, or people.

Example

In 1718, a pirate named Blackbeard captured a French slave ship near the Caribbean.

historical reference: a pirate named [Name]

Somali pirates seized the cargo ship and held the crew for ransom for three months.

collocation: pirates + seize/hold for ransom

Common collocations
  • band of pirates
  • pirate ship
  • pirate captain
  • pirate crew
  • pirate flag
Synonyms
  • buccaneer

    historical Caribbean pirate, often romanticised

  • corsair

    older or literary; especially a Mediterranean pirate

  • raider

    broader: any attacker who steals; not necessarily at sea

Grammar Patterns

a pirate + verb

a band/crew of pirates

Usage Note

Often appears with adjectives that locate the pirate in time or place (Caribbean pirates, Somali pirates, modern pirates) and with verbs of violent taking (attack, board, seize, raid, plunder).

Common Mistakes

A pirate stole my bag on the bus.
A thief stole my bag on the bus.
a pirate operates at sea, not on land transport.

2. someone who makes copies of films, music, software, or books without paying the

2.nounB2
Definition

someone who makes copies of films, music, software, or books without paying the owner of the rights, and then shares or sells those copies.

Example

Software pirates in the 1990s sold cheap copies of Microsoft Office on burned CDs.

compound: software/music/video pirate

Movie studios lose billions every year to pirates who upload films online before release.

collocation: pirates + upload/share/distribute

Common collocations
  • software pirate
  • music pirate
  • video pirate
  • online pirate
Synonyms
  • bootlegger

    informal; especially someone who sells unofficial copies of music or films

  • counterfeiter

    broader: makes fake versions of any product, not only media

Grammar Patterns

software/music/video pirate

Usage Note

Frequently used as a modifier (software pirate, music pirate) or with the medium as the object of the implied copying. Distinguish from sense 1: the sea-robber sense never appears in compounds about media.

Common Mistakes

My friend is a pirate because he downloaded one song for free.
My friend downloaded one song illegally.
'pirate' usually describes someone who copies and distributes on a larger scale, not a one-time downloader.

3. a station broadcasting radio or TV programmes without any government licence, of

3.nounC1
Definition

a station broadcasting radio or TV programmes without any government licence, often from a hidden flat, a tall building, or a ship anchored offshore.

Example

In the 1960s, a pirate broadcast pop music to British teenagers from a ship in the North Sea.

historical: 1960s UK pirate radio on ships

The police shut down a pirate that had been playing reggae from a flat in east London.

collocation: shut down / raid + a pirate (station)

Common collocations
  • pirate radio
  • pirate station
  • pirate broadcast
Synonyms
Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

pirate radio/TV station

Usage Note

Most often appears as a modifier in 'pirate radio' or 'pirate station'; the bare noun for a station is less common and usually clear from context (broadcasting, radio, frequency).

Common Mistakes

I listened to a pirate yesterday.
I listened to a pirate station yesterday.
without 'radio' or 'station', listeners will read 'pirate' as the sea-robber sense.

pirate — verb

Word family

  • piracy
    nounB2
  • pirated
    adjectiveB2
  • piratical
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words name someone who attacks and steals, but they differ in scope and feel. 'Pirate' is the modern, neutral term for a sea robber and works for any era and any ocean — from ancient Greek pirates to Somali pirates today. 'Buccaneer' is narrower and more romantic, picturing a Caribbean adventurer of the 1600s and 1700s; storybooks love this word. 'Corsair' sounds older and literary, and historically refers to pirates around the Mediterranean, especially North African ones who attacked European ships. 'Raider' is the broadest: any attacker who strikes and steals, whether on land, at sea, or even in cyberspace ('cyber raiders'). So if you want the everyday word, choose pirate; for a 17th-century Caribbean scene, buccaneer; for a literary or Mediterranean flavour, corsair; and for a general attacker not tied to the sea, raider.

pirate ↗buccaneercorsairraider

Common collocations

Nouns

  • pirate ship
  • pirate flag
  • pirate radio
  • software pirate
  • music pirate

Adverbs

Phrases

  • a band of pirates
  • pirates of the Caribbean
  • modern-day pirates
  • pirate copy

Prepositions

  • pirate from (someone)
  • pirated by (someone)
  • pirated on (a platform)

Etymology

GreekLatinOld FrenchEnglish

English borrowed 'pirate' in the 1300s from Old French 'pirate', which came from Latin 'pirata' meaning a sea robber. The Latin word came from Greek 'peiratēs', built on a verb meaning 'to attempt' or 'to attack'. The original sense was always about attacking ships at sea; the meaning of someone who illegally copies books, music, or films grew out of this in the 1600s, when English writers complained that booksellers were 'pirating' their work without paying them.