What is the Latin word for spoil?

The usual Latin words for “spoil” are praedor, praeda, agō; also rapiō, corrumpō, dēprāvō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“spoil” in Latin

praedorto acquire loot, such as through robbery or war; to pillage, plunder, despoil; to ravage, rob, take praedaplunder, booty, pillage, spoils of war, property taken in war; prey, game taken in the hunt; gain, profit agōto act, to behave; to do; to make (something that does not continue to exist after the maker stops)rapiōto snatch, grab, carry off, abduct, rape, steal; to snatch (oneself); take off, hurry corrumpōto pervert, corrupt, deprave or infect; to gain to oneself by gifts, etc.; bribe; to spoil or rot dēprāvōto pervert, distort or disfigure; to seduce, corrupt or deprave perdōto destroy, ruin, wreck; to waste, squander; to have no more, to be deprived of pervertōto overthrow; to subvert or corrupt vitiōto vitiate, make faulty, spoil, taint, corrupt, damage; to violate sexually; to falsify, corrupt (tamper with)spoliōto strip, deprive or rob of covering or clothing, uncover, bare, unclothe; to strip, deprive or rob of arms or equipment

The English word spoil itself goes back to Latin spolium, through spoliō.

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

spoil v.

To plunder, praedari: praedam or praedas facere, or (of living creatures) agere: rapere: rapinas facere.

To devastate, Vid:

To corrupt, destroy: Transitively, corrumpere: depravare: perdere: pervertere: vitiare. The dinner is spoiled, corrumpitur cena (Plaut.), prandium (Terentianus): the fish are spoiled, pisces corrumpuntur (Plaut.): to spoil fruit, fruges perdere (Cic.): to spoil corn, frumentum corrumpere (Caes.): to spoil one’s pleasures, gaudium alicujus contaminare (Ter., Eun., 3, 5, 4), acerbare (Statius, Theb., 12, 75); gaudium alicujus turbare; voluptas alicujus corrumpitur aliqua re (†): to see one’s character, depravare, corrumpere mores (Cic.): to spoil a child, indulgentia puerum depravare or corrumpere; deliciis solvere; molli illa educatione, quam indulgentiam vocamus, nervos omnes mentis et corporis frangere (Quint.): to be spoiled by a luxurious and indolent life, luxu atque inertia corrumpi (Sall.): to be spoiled (of children, etc.), remollescere, effeminari. Intransitively, corrumpi: depravari: perdi.

spoil s.

praeda: raptum. Spoils, plur., spolia, -orum, neuter; exuviae (the former, arms, standards, and all trophies taken from an enemy; the latter, only arms taken off the person); spolia opima, -orum, neuter (arms taken from a general); manubiae (money obtained from the spoils; then the general’s share of them; Vid: commentators on Nep., Cim., 2, 5); sectio (booty divided into portions; then the share which fell to the treasury; Vid: commentators on Caes., B.C., 2, 23; Ernesti, Clav., Cic., s., v.).

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for spoil?: The usual Latin words for “spoil” are praedor, praeda, agō; also rapiō, corrumpō, dēprāvō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.