buccaneer

UK: /ˌbʌkəˈnɪə^r/ US: /ˌbʌkəˈnɪr/ ,(buk′ə nēr′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

buc•ca•neer /ˌbʌkəˈnɪr/   n. [countable]

1. a pirate, esp. one who attacked Spanish colonies and ships along the American coast in the second half of the 17th century.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

buc•ca•neer  (buk′ə nēr′), n. 

1. any of the piratical adventurers who raided Spanish colonies and ships along the American coast in the second half of the 17th century.
2. any pirate.

• Tupi, variant of mukém) + -ier -eer
• French boucanier, literally, barbecuer, equivalent. to boucan barbecue (
• 1655–65

buc′ca•neer′ish, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

buccaneer / ˌbʌkəˈnɪə/ noun

1. a pirate, esp one who preyed on the Spanish colonies and shipping in America and the Caribbean in the 17th and 18th centuries

verb (intransitive)

1. to be or act like a buccaneer

Etymology: 17th Century: from French boucanier, from boucaner to smoke meat, from Old French boucan frame for smoking meat, of Tupian origin; originally applied to French and English hunters of wild oxen in the Caribbean