LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

praeda

praeda f (genitive praedae)
Classical[ˈprae̯.da]Ecclesiastical[ˈprɛː.da]
№ 626 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. feminineplunder, booty, pillage, spoils of war, property taken in war
    “Nōn nōs aut ferrō Libycōs populāre Penātīs“We come neither to pillage by sword the household gods of Libya, nor to drive captured plunder to the shores.” (The plunder “driven” or “turned” implies taking herds of animals; it might also mean taking humans into slavery.)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.527–528
    Vōs quoque, formīcae, subiectīs parcite grānīs:And you too, ants, act sparingly once the seed has been sown: after harvest there will be a greater abundance of plunder.8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 1.685–686
  2. feminineprey, game taken in the hunt
  3. femininegain, profit

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

bona quae victōrēs ex bellō capiunt.
praeda -ae f — in Mille Verba, Bellum et Arma
quod vī raptum est
praeda -ae (f) — in Aeneis, ch. 7

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Præda · Manubiæ · Spolia · Exuviæ · Rapina

1. Prædia and manubiæ denote booty only as a possession and gain that has been made by conquest; whereas spolia and exuviæ, at the same time, as signs of victory and of honor. 2. Præda denotes any sort of booty; whereas manubiæ only the honorable booty of the soldier, taken in war; and rapina, the dishonorable booty of the prædo, who violates the peace of the country, robbery. (iv. 337.) 3. Prædo is the robber in general, in as far as he commits the robbery with his own hands, like λῃστής, as a species of latro (from ὀλετήρ) the highwayman, who lays wait for travellers, like σίνις, and pirata (πειρατής) the sea-robber; whereas raptor means the robber of some particular person or thing, like ἁρπακτήρ.

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativepraedapraedae
genitivepraedaepraedārum
dativepraedaepraedīs
accusativepraedampraedās
ablativepraedāpraedīs
vocativepraedapraedae

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

ferre atque agere praedam
to carry off booty.

praeda, ae (old
I. abl. sing. PRAEDAD. Inscr. Col. Rostr.), f. for praehenda, from praehendo, v. prehendo, property taken in war, booty, spoil, plunder, pillage (syn.: exuviae, spolium).
I. Lit.: praedā exercitus undat, Enn. ap. Serv. ad Verg. G. 2, 437 (Ann. v. 320 Vahl.): praedas ac manubias in urbis ornamenta conferre, Cic. Agr. 2, 23, 61; cf. manubiae, and the passages there cited with praeda; so plur.: praedarum in parte repertā frangebat pocula, Juv. 11, 101.—Mostly sing.: praeda ante parta, Cic. Prov. Cons. 11, 28: praedam capere de praedonibus Plaut. Truc. 1, 2, 14: praedam militibus donare, Caes. B. G. 7, 11 fin.: victores praedā spoliisque potiti, Verg. A. 9, 450.—
II. Transf.
A. An animal, bird, etc., caught or killed in the chase; prey, game (poet. and in postAug. prose): cervi luporum praeda rapacium, Hor. C. 4, 4, 50; Phaedr. 1, 5; Verg. A. 3, 223; Plin. 8, 55, 81, § 219; of fishing, Plaut. Rud. 4, 2, 4; Ov. M. 13, 936: in saltu venantur aves; hinc praeda cubili Ponitur, Juv. 14, 82.—Prov.: praeda canum lepus est, Mart. 1, 22, 5.—Transf., of a person, prey, Plaut. Ps. 4, 7, 23; Ov. H. 15, 51.—
B. In gen., booty, spoil, gain, profit: illa, quae empta ex praedā est, Plaut. Ep. 5, 1, 2; 15; 3, 3, 13: adeste, sultis, praeda erit praesentium, id. Stich. 1, 3, 67: maximos quaestus praedasque facere, Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 50, § 119; Hor. S. 2, 3, 68: ostendit praedam, treasure trove, Phaedr. 5, 6, 4: a quibus magnas praedas Agesilaus faciebat, from which Agesilaus drew great advantage, Nep. Chabr. 2, 3; cf. Plin. 26, 1, 3, § 4.

Origins

Likely from the o-grade Proto-Italic *praiɣodā, from (with the prefix *prai-) Proto-Indo-European *gʰed-, whence also the second element in prehendō and probably also hedera.

Descendants
  • Frenchproiefrom Old French preie
  • Englishpreyfrom Old French preie
  • Italianpreda
  • Occitanpreda
  • Portuguesepreia
  • Romanianpradă
  • Spanishprea
  • Spanishpreda
  • Englishspreathfrom Middle Irish spréid
  • Englishspreefrom Middle Irish spréid

In English words that came into English from praeda

  • preypraeda
  • predatorpraedātor
  • spreepraeda
  • predationpraedatio
  • depredatedepraedari
  • predacitypraedor
  • predaceouspraedor
  • spreathpraeda
  • predaceanpraeda

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesPraedaPraeda signifies movable things taken by an enemy in war: when captured by a Roman. army, they were either distributed by the general among the soldie…

Quick answers

What does praeda mean in Latin?
praeda, a noun, means “plunder, booty, pillage, spoils of war, property taken in war; prey, game taken in the hunt; gain, profit”.
What is the genitive of praeda?
The genitive singular is praedae. praeda is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce praeda?
In classical Latin, [ˈprae̯.da]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈprɛː.da].
Which English words come from praeda?
English words that go back to Latin praeda include prey, spree, spreath, predacean, depredate and predacity.