spoil

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun (usually plural) valuables taken by violence (especially in war)
  2. noun the act of spoiling something by causing damage to it
  3. noun the act of stripping and taking by force

Etymology

From Middle English spoilen, spuylen, borrowed from Old French espoillier, espollier, espuler, from Latin spoliō, spoliāre (“pillage, ruin, spoil”).

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