Privateer

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌpɹaɪ.vəˈtɪə/

Definitions

1. A person authorized by a government to attack and capture enemy ships during wartime, or someone who engages in piracy for personal profit
2. A ship owner or captain licensed by a sovereign state to raid enemy vessels and seize cargo during armed conflict, or one who commits such maritime robbery independently for personal gain
3. An individual granted official sanction to conduct armed attacks on enemy shipping in wartime, or a seaborne robber who plunders vessels without authorization for private benefit

Etymology: The word began as a shortened form of a longer phrase, "private man-of-war," which described a privately owned armed ship that a state authorized to attack enemy vessels. The shortening left behind a noun that sounds like it should mean "a person who is private," and that surface reading is part of why the term feels slightly odd when you first meet it. The ending "-eer" is most likely borrowed from "volunteer," a word that already described people who acted of their own accord in service of a cause. A privateer was similarly a civilian who went to sea on a government's behalf, so the suffix fits the idea of an independent agent doing state-sanctioned work. Its exact development from "private man-of-war" is probable rather than documented, so the link to "volunteer" should be read as the most likely explanation.

Synonyms: pirate, corsair, buccaneer