Bucanier

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Buccaneer \Buc`ca*neer"\, n. [F. boucanier, fr. boucaner to
     smoke or broil meat and fish, to hunt wild beasts for their
     skins, boucan a smoking place for meat or fish, gridiron for
     smoking: a word of American origin.]
     A robber upon the sea; a pirate; -- a term applied especially
     to the piratical adventurers who made depredations on the


     Spaniards in America in the 17th and 18th centuries. [Written
     also {bucanier}.]
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Primarily, one who dries and smokes flesh or fish after
           the manner of the Indians. The name was first given to
           the French settlers in Haiti or Hispaniola, whose
           business was to hunt wild cattle and swine.
           [1913 Webster]