pirate

1 of 2

noun

pi·​rate ˈpī-rət 

: one who commits or practices piracy

piratical

pə-ˈra-ti-kəl 

pī-

adjective

piratically

pə-ˈra-ti-k(ə-)lē 

pī-

adverb

pirate

2 of 2

verb

pirated; pirating

transitive verb

1

: to commit piracy on

2

: to take or appropriate by piracy: such as

a

: to reproduce without authorization especially in infringement of copyright

b

: to lure away from another employer by offers of betterment

intransitive verb

: to commit or practice piracy

Synonyms

Noun

• buccaneer
• privateer
• freebooter
• corsair
• raider

Verb

• seize
• steal
• confiscate
• grab
• convert
• usurp

Examples of pirate in a Sentence

Noun

the famous pirate Jean Lafitte

A software pirate made bootleg copies of the computer program.

Verb

He was accused of pirating their invention.

using pirated software that was subject to copyright

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

But Chappell was the queen of the castle from the start, stomping onstage to an orchestral metal fanfare, wearing a crimson pirate ensemble and her bat-wing fascinator. —Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 21 Sep. 2025

On the other hand, there was also the concept of reading and how to integrate that in the story, how the pirates learn to read, and how words go together. —Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 20 Sep. 2025

Verb

The tall ship is used to educate more than 5,000 school children a year on maritime history and pirate life. —Erika I. Ritchie, Oc Register, 13 Sep. 2025

Justin Nelson, an attorney for the authors, told Alsup that about 465,000 books are on the list of works pirated by Anthropic. —Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 9 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin pirata, from Greek peiratēs, from peiran to attempt — more at fear

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1577, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Kids Definition

pirate

1 of 2 noun

pi·​rate ˈpī-rət 

: a person who commits piracy

piratical

pə-ˈrat-i-kəl 

pī-

adjective

piratically

-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

pirate

2 of 2 verb

pirated; pirating

: to take by piracy

pirate an invention

Legal Definition

pirate

1 of 2 noun

pi·​rate ˈpī-rət 

: a person who commits piracy

pirate

2 of 2 verb

pirated; pirating

transitive verb

: to take or appropriate by piracy

especially : to copy, distribute, or use without authorization especially in infringement of copyright

the pirated software

pirating cable signals

intransitive verb

: to commit piracy compare bootleg