rapine means the seizure of someone's property by force; pillage; plunder. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 83 out of 100.
rapine is pronounced /ˈɹæpaɪn/.
Why “rapine” is a great word
The violent seizure and carrying away of property by force. From Middle English rapyne, from Old French rapine, from Latin rapīna ('robbery, pillage'), from rapiō ('I seize, snatch'). Doublet of ravine. Unlike 'theft,' which implies stealth or deceit, or 'ravage,' which emphasizes the destruction left behind, rapine is the brutal choreography of plunder itself: the sword-arm wrenching a chalice from an altar, hands tearing rings from fingers in a conquered street, the systematic looting of a temple's sacred vessels. It is the naked conversion of another's life into portable loot, leaving behind a silence where valued things once were.
Etymology
From Middle English rapyne, from Old French rapine, from Latin rapīna, from rapiō. Doublet of ravine.
noun
- The seizure of someone's property by force; pillage; plunder.“This countrey ſwarmes with vile outragious men,
That liue by rapine and by lawleſſe ſpoile,
Fit ſouldiers for the wicked Tamburlaine.”
verb
- To plunder.“A Tyrant doth not only rapine his Subjects, but spoils and robs Churches.”