Etymograph

English

ladrone

Ladrone comes from Spanish ladrón ‘thievish’, and goes back to Latin latrō ‘mercenary’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElatrōas latrōnem‘mercenary’
  2. Old Spanishc. 950–1500ladron
  3. Spanishc. 1500–presentladrón‘thievish’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1907ladrone

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElatrōas latrōnem‘mercenary’
  2. Old Spanishc. 950–1500ladron
  3. Spanishc. 1500–presentladrón‘thievish’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1907ladrone

Earliest quotation: 1907, Robert William Chambers, His Own People: “But they had already discovered that he could be…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *leh₂t- ‘to grant’

idolatry, 3 more

through Latin latrō ‘mercenary’

larceny, 9 more

Today it means

noun A robber; a pirate; a rascal or rogue.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin latrō / ladrone

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