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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Corsair

Corsair \Cor"sair\ (k?r"s?r), n. [F. corsaire (cf. It. corsare, corsale, Pr. corsari), LL. corsarius, fr. L. cursus a running, course, whence Sp. corso cruise, corsa cruise, coasting voyage, corsear to cruise against the enemy, to pirate, corsario cruising, a privateer authorized to cruise against the enemy. See Course.]

  1. A pirate; one who cruises about without authorization from any government, to seize booty on sea or land.

  2. A piratical vessel.

    Barbary corsairs . . . infested the coast of the Mediterranean.
    --Prescott.

  3. (Zo["o]l.) A Californian market fish ( Sebastichthys rosaceus).

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
corsair

1540s, from Middle French corsaire (15c.), from Provençal cursar, Italian corsaro, from Medieval Latin cursarius "pirate," from Latin cursus "course, a running," from currere "to run" (see current (adj.)). Meaning of the Medieval Latin verb evolved from "course" to "journey" to "expedition" to an expedition specifically for plunder.

Wiktionary
corsair

n. 1 A French privateer, especially from the port of St-Malo 2 A privateer or pirate in general 3 The ship of privateers or pirates, especially of French nationality 4 A nocturnal assassin bug of the genus (taxlink Rasahus genus noshow=1), found in the southern USA. 5 A Californian market fish (''Sebastichthys rosaceus'').

WordNet
corsair
  1. n. a pirate along the Barbary coast [syn: Barbary pirate]

  2. a swift pirate ship (often operating with official sanction)

Wikipedia
Corsair (comics)

Corsair (Major Christopher Summers, USAF) is a fictional character, a star-faring hero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He leads the Starjammers and is best known as the father of X-Men superheroes Cyclops and Havok, and the supervillain Vulcan. He first appeared in X-Men #104, and was created by Dave Cockrum.

Corsair

A corsair (sometimes referred to as a buccaneer) is a privateer or a pirate, sometimes particularly the Barbary pirates.

Corsair may also refer to:

Corsair (dinghy)

The Corsair is a class of sixteen foot three handed sailing dinghy. The boat was designed by Australian designer Alan Payne who is famous for designing Sir Frank Packer's America's Cup challenge yachts Gretel and Gretel II.

Corsair (Cussler novel)

Corsair is the 6th novel in The Oregon Files by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul. The book follows the enigmatic Juan Cabrillo and the Corporation team's mission to recover the US Secretary of State Fiona Katamora before the upcoming peace summit, which is being held in Tripoli. They discover that all is not as it seems and that the plane crash that brought her down may not have been an accident. The Corporation must battle terrorists with a foothold in the Libyan government while uncovering the identity of their hidden leader. As the journey continues the team uncovers many hidden secrets in the Libyan desert including the entire ex-foreign department of the government and an archaeologist, Alana Shepard, who is close to uncovering the key to peace in the middle east. The Corporation then sets out to find both the lost manuscripts Alana Shepherd was looking for and the Secretary of State.

Category:2009 American novels Category:Novels by Clive Cussler Category:Novels by Jack Du Brul Category:The Oregon Files

Corsair (film)

Corsair is a 1931 American Pre-Code crime drama written, produced and directed by Roland West. The film is based on the 1931 novel Corsair, a Pirate in White Flannels by Walton Green and takes place in and was shot during the era of Prohibition in the United States. The film stars Chester Morris and Thelma Todd (credited as Alison Loyd).

Usage examples of "corsair".

An Algerine corsair took them off the Munster coast and I mean to send them back to their parents, peasants in a village I know.

I have been aboard an Algerine corsair and a Sallee rover, and since their chief aim is to take by boarding, they are usually very full of men.

Aquilonia will remember me as Conan of the Barachan pirates, or Amra of the black corsairs.

They also wanted me on the fleet that is set to deal with the Aragonese, Barbary corsairs and the Genovese, too.

The Corsairs had lit lanterns up and down the length of the galleot shortly before the collision, so that Spaniards running up from belowdecks, rubbing sleep out of their eyes, would be presented with the reassuring sight of oarsmen who were still safely in chains, and free crew members who were unarmed and disorganized.

Haluk corsairs are indeed operating in the Sagittarian arm of the galaxy, they do so without the authorization of our Sovereign Haluk Confederation.

Achardus in his palace, her wicked little brother Beynor, King Olmigon of Cathra, the fleet of Tarnian mercenaries, the distant Southern Continent where the corsairs of Foraile and Stippen were gathering, Crown Prince Honigalus and his armada, and Conrig and his invasion force.

Or vice versa, since she saw that the corsair fleets of Stippen and Foraile also remained in port.

They knew, too, that they might be days before meeting with a ship, for all traders in the Mediterranean hugged the northern shores as much as possible in order to avoid the dreaded corsairs, and there would be a far greater chance of their being recaptured by one of the Moorish cruisers than of lighting upon a Christian trader.

English gentleman who had rescued him and his daughter from the hands of the Moors, it being incidentally mentioned that he had sailed in the Armada, and that he had fallen into the hands of the corsairs in the course of a voyage made with his friend Mr.

Facing him were two corsairs, gaudily dressed in leggings and shirts of bright yellow silk.

The corsairs were about to attack, and surely the drunken man would be cut down.

There was a continual buzz of space traffic between Nar Shaddaa and the far-flung systems of the galaxy: mighty transgalactic transports and bulk cargo vessels, the garish yachts and caravels of the Hutt ganglords, the battle-scarred corsairs of the mercenaries and bounty hunters, the pirate brigantines, and even the occasional commercial passenger liner, packet starjam-mer, or massive migration arks.

Circumstances - violent as usual -made him a pirate along the coasts of Kush, with a crew of black corsairs and the Shemitish she-pirate Belit as his partner.

A light breeze which was blowing from the south might have carried us to Corfu in ten hours, but when we had sailed about one hour my cayabouchiri informed me that he could see by the moonlight a ship which might prove to be a corsair, and get hold of us.