Latrociny

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Robbery or plunder carried out as a crime ; killing done in the course of stealing from someone
2. The offense of stealing by force or fraud ; the slaying of a victim while committing a theft
3. Pillage or thievery as a criminal act ; homicide that occurs alongside a robbery

Etymology: "Latrociny" is a rare English word for robbery, and it reaches us from Latin "latrocinium," meaning "highway robbery." That Latin term came from "latrocinari," to rob or plunder, which was built from "latro," a word for a brigand, robber, or mercenary soldier. The "-cinari" ending was a verbal suffix, so the whole word was essentially a noun describing the act of acting like a "latro." The surprising twist is that "latrociny" is a doublet of "larceny." Both descend from the same Latin root, but they took different routes into English. "Larceny" came through Anglo-Norman and Old French, where the Latin "latrocinium" wore down into a lighter form and settled into the legal word for theft, while "latrociny" was adopted more directly and kept its heavier, more violent sense of robbery on the road. The two words ended up as relatives that never quite meant the same thing.

Synonyms: robbery, theft, larceny, thievery