# pirate

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈpaɪɹət/ · frequency rank #7,593

## Definitions
1. A criminal who plunders at sea; commonly attacking merchant vessels, though often pillaging port towns.
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.
4. A bird which practises kleptoparasitism.
5. A kind of marble in children's games.

## Etymology
From Middle English pirate, pirat, pyrat, from Old French pirate, from Latin pīrāta (“pirate”), from Ancient Greek πειρατής (peiratḗs), from πεῖρα (peîra, “trial, attempt, plot”). Displaced native Old English wīċing, which was the word for both "pirate" and "viking".

## Easily confused with
- **prat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pirate-vs-prat)
- **plate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pirate-vs-plate)
- **PRATT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pirate-vs-pratt)
- **Porte** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pirate-vs-porte)
- **pyrite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pirate-vs-pyrite)
- **private** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pirate-vs-private)
- **pirates** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pirate-vs-pirates)
- **primate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pirate-vs-primate)
- **pirated** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pirate-vs-pirated)
- **pate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pate-vs-pirate)
- **phrase** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/phrase-vs-pirate)
- **parade** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parade-vs-pirate)
- **piracy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/piracy-vs-pirate)
- **palate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/palate-vs-pirate)
- **Pilate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilate-vs-pirate)
- **piñata** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pinata-vs-pirate)
- **Pilates** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pilates-vs-pirate)

## Common misspellings (8)
`iprate`, `piarte`, `piraet`, `piratte`, `pirrate`, `pirtae`, `ppirate`, `priate`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/pirate