Added 10 October 2026
spoliation
/spəʊliˈeɪʃn̩/ noun
In Latin: spoliātiō Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about spoliation at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- (law) the intentional destruction of a document or an alteration of it that destroys its value as evidence.
- The act of stripping and taking by force.
Origin
From Late Middle English spoliacioun (“looting, robbery, theft; an instance of this; (ecclesiastical) wrongful deprivation of the emoluments of a benefice due to another”), from Anglo-Norman spoliacioun, espolïacion, and directly from their etymon Latin spoliātiō (“plundering, robbing”), from spoliāre + -tiō (suffix forming nouns denoting a process, action, or result of an action). Spoliāre is the present active infinitive of spoliō (“to deprive or strip of clothing or covering, unclothe, uncover; (by extension) to pillage, plunder; etc.”), from spolium (“hide or skin stripped off an animal; (by extension) booty, spoil; etc.”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)