![]() The modern, informal noun sense of loot, referring collectively to good stuff like gifts or things you just bought, implies that such stuff is like treasure. That stuff has been called loot, spoils, plunder, and booty. Throughout history, looting has been a common byproduct of war: soldiers from invading armies loot, pillage, and plunder-meaning they use the opportunity to steal valuable stuff and take it home with them. It comes from the Hindi lūṭ, which is equivalent to the Sanskrit luṇṭhati, meaning “(he) steals.” The first records of loot come from the 1780s. ![]() They’re sometimes used in a loaded way that’s intended to portray people as lawless, such as when one tries to discredit protesters by calling them rioters and looters.Įxample: The museum has chosen to return artifacts that were looted from other nations during antiquity. These terms and the verb loot are always used negatively. The act of doing so is called looting, and those who do it are called looters. It can also be used in a general or somewhat metaphorical way-crimes like embezzling government money are sometimes referred to as looting the treasury. It is most commonly used to refer to opportunistically stealing things from physical locations during chaotic situations, when police or other authorities are preoccupied, such as in the midst of war or a massive protest. Loot can also be used as a verb meaning to steal things in this way. These words and loot can also refer more generally to anything stolen or taken in a dishonest way, such as through burglary or embezzlement. This meaning of loot is an extension of its original sense, which is still used but less commonly: goods stolen during war. ![]() Loot is an informal way to collectively refer to valued goods, often ones that are newly acquired, as in That is one big pile of birthday presents-look at all that loot!
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