buccaneer Definition

buccaneer
noun

1. A pirate

Thesaurus: corsair, pirate, privateer, sea-rover, sea-wolf.

historical & literary:
1. A pirate, especially an adventurer who attacked and plundered Spanish ships in the Caribbean during the 17c.
2. derog
An opportunistic or unscrupulous businessman or politician, etc.

Etymology: 17c: from French boucanier, which originally meant ‘someone who prepares smoked dried meat using a wooden gridiron' (as the French settlers in the Caribbean did); from boucan, the French word for both the gridiron and the dried meat.