Contrabandists

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. People who participate in the illicit exchange of forbidden items
2. Individuals actively involved in the smuggling of restricted merchandise
3. Persons engaged in the secret transportation of goods that are prohibited by law

Etymology: Contrabandists are the plural of "contrabandist," and the word is built from "contraband" plus the suffix "-ist," meaning a person who practises or is involved in something. The suffix traces back through Latin "-ista" and Old French "-iste," and ultimately to Ancient Greek "-istēs," which marked agents of an action, as in "-izein" verbs. English took "-ist" in with the sense of a practitioner, so a contrabandist is literally someone who deals in contraband. The base word did the heavier lifting. "Contraband" came into English from Italian "contrabbando," itself from medieval Latin "contrabannum," with "contra" meaning "against" and "bannum" meaning a proclamation or ban. The sense is therefore goods that go against an official ban, and the word has carried that meaning of illegal trade ever since. Once the suffix was attached, the result described people rather than goods, giving English a term for the smugglers themselves. The word is a plain compound with a standard suffix, so its history is largely the history of its two parts.