pirate
pir·ate/ˈpaɪɹət/noun, verb, adjective
pirate is spelled P-I-R-A-T-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables (pir·ate). It appears 9.1 times per million words in written English, the 7,553rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pirate means “A criminal who plunders at sea; commonly attacking merchant vessels, though often pillaging port towns” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pirate is pirates.
How many letters and syllables are in pirate?
| Letters | 6: P-I-R-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: pir·ate |
| In writing | 9.1 times per million words; the 7,553rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is pirate?
Pirate appears 9.1 times per million words in written English, the 7,553rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce pirate?
- UK /ˈpaɪɹət/
- UK /ˈpaɪ̯ɹɪt/
- US /ˈpaɪɹət/
Pirate has 2 syllables, split pir·ate in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-pirate.ogg, En-pirate.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pirate
- pirates plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- pirating participle, present
- pirated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pirate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A criminal who plunders at sea; commonly attacking merchant vessels, though often pillaging port towns.
You should be cautious due to the Somali pirates.
- 2
An armed ship or vessel that sails for the purpose of plundering other vessels.
- 3
One who breaks intellectual property laws by reproducing protected works without permission.
And Gnutella, Freenet and other pirate tools will offer plunderings beyond Fanning's fantasies.
- 4
A bird which practises kleptoparasitism.
- 5
A kind of marble in children's games.
verb
- 1
To appropriate by piracy; to plunder at sea.
They pirated the tanker and sailed to a port where they could sell the ship and cargo.
- 2
To create and/or sell an unauthorized copy of.
- 3
To knowingly obtain an unauthorized copy of.
Not willing to pay full price for the computer game, Heidi pirated a copy.
- 4
To engage in piracy.
He pirated in the Atlantic for years before becoming a privateer for the Queen.
- 5
To entice an employee to switch from a competing company to one's own.
adjective
- 1
Illegally imitated or reproduced, said of a trademarked product or copyrighted work, or of the counterfeit itself.
noun
- 1
someone connected with any of a number of sports teams known as the Pirates, as a fan, player, coach etc.
- 2
someone connected with Bristol Rovers Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pirate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pirate, corsaire, boucanier (buccaneer), flibustier , pirater , piraté |
| German | Pirat, Seeräuber, Korsar , Piratenschiff , Raubkopierer , raubkopieren |
| Portuguese | corsário, pirata, bucaneiro , piratear , pirateado |
| Spanish | pirata, bucanero , piratear , barco pirata |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.