Episode 162: The Pirate Queen
The History of English Podcast
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The Meaning of Privateer in the Elizabethan Period
The word privateer isn't actually found in an English document until the middle of the following century. Privateers were captains of private vessels that were allowed to raid foreign ships. The ear suffix was acquired from French in the 1500s, and it became quite popular in English. During that period, English borrowed words like pioneer and canoneer,. By the early 1600s, English had also borrowed the word volunteer.
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