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Origin and history of spoliation

spoliation(n.)

"robbery, plunder, loot, theft," c. 1400, spoliacioun, Anglo-French esploiacion, from Latin spoliationem (nominative spoliatio) "a robbing, plundering, pillaging," noun of action from past-participle stem of spoliare "to plunder, rob" (see spoil (v.)). Related: Spoliator; spoliatory. The Roman spolarium was a room off an amphitheater where the bodies of slain gladiators were stripped of arms and armor.

also from c. 1400

Entries linking to spoliation

spoil(v.)

c. 1300, spoilen, "strip (someone) violently of clothes, strip a slain enemy," from Anglo-French espoiller, Old French espoillier, espillier "strip, plunder, pillage" and directly from Latin spoliare "strip, uncover, lay bare; strip of clothing, rob, plunder, pillage," a verb from spolia, plural of spolium "arms taken from an enemy, booty;" originally "hide, skin stripped from a killed animal," from Proto-Italic *spolio- "skin, hide" (from PIE *spol-yo-, probably from a root *spel- (1) "to split, to break off;" see spill (v.)) on the notion of "what is split off." Compare despoil.

It is attested from late 14c. in English as "strip with violence, rob, pillage, plunder (a place), dispossess; impoverish with excessive taxation." It was used c. 1400 as the verb to describe Christ's harrowing of Hell.

It is recorded by late 14c. as "divest or deprive (someone or something) of an essential quality." The sense of "destroy, ruin, damage so as to render useless" is from 1560s; that of "to over-indulge" (a child, etc.) is from 1640s (implied in the past-participle adjective spoiled). The intransitive sense of "become tainted or unsavory, go bad, lose freshness" is from 1690s. Spile represents a 19c. dialectal pronunciation. Slang spoiling for (a fight, etc.), "pining for, longing for" is from 1865, American English, from notion that one will "spoil" if he doesn't get it.

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    despoliation
    "act or fact of despoiling," 1650s, from Late Latin despoliationem (nominative despoliatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin despoliare "to rob, despoil, plunder," from de- "entirely" (see de-) + spoliare "to strip of clothing, rob," from spolium "skin, hide; ar
    devastation
    "ravage, act of devastating; state of being devastated," mid-15c., from Medieval Latin devastationem (nominative devastatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin devastare "lay waste completely," from de- "completely" (see de-) + vastare "lay waste," from vastus "em
    pillage
    late 14c., "act of plundering" (especially in war), from Old French pilage (14c.) "plunder," from pillier "to plunder, loot, ill-treat," possibly from Vulgar Latin *piliare "to plunder," probably from a figurative use of Latin pilare "to strip of hair," perhaps also meaning "to s
    destruction
    c. 1300, destruccioun "ruin;" early 14c., "act of destroying, devastation; state of being destroyed," from Old French destruction (12c.) and directly from Latin destructionem (nominative destructio) "a pulling down, destruction," noun of action from past-participle stem of destru
    Hollywood
    region near Los Angeles, named for the ranch that once stood there, which was named by Deida Wilcox, wife of Horace H. Wilcox, Kansas City real estate man, when they moved there in 1886. They began selling off building lots in 1891 and the village was incorporated in 1903. Once a
    dub
    "give a name to," originally "make a knight," from late Old English dubbian "knight by ceremonially striking with a sword" (11c.), a word perhaps borrowed from Old French aduber "equip with arms, adorn" (11c.) which is of uncertain origin, probably Germanic, but there are phoneti
    echo
    mid-14c., "sound repeated by reflection," from Latin echo, from Greek ēkhō, personified in classical mythology as a mountain nymph who pined away for love of Narcissus until nothing was left of her but her voice, from or related to ēkhē "sound," ēkhein "to resound," from PIE *wag
    manipulation
    by 1730, a method of digging ore, from French manipulation, from manipule "handful" (a pharmacists' measure), from Latin manipulus "handful, sheaf, bundle," from manus "hand" (from PIE root *man- (2) "hand") + root of plere "to fill" (from PIE root *pele- (1) "to fill"). Sense of
    mature
    c. 1400, maturen, "encourage suppuration;" mid-15c., of plants, "cause to ripen, bring to maturity," from Latin mātūrare "to ripen, bring to maturity," from mātūrus "ripe, timely, early," related to māne "early, of the morning," from PIE *meh-tu- "ripeness." De Vaan writes that "
    profane
    "desecrate, treat (holy things) with irreverence," late 14c., prophanen, from Old French profaner, prophaner (13c.) and directly from Latin profanare (in Medieval Latin often prophanare) "to desecrate, render unholy, violate," from profanus "unholy, not consecrated" (see profane

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