Is 'corsair' English, or is it actually French?

'Corsair' is a word borrowed from French 'corsair'. The word entered the English language some time around 1549.

corsair [noun] [1549]

• pirate
• a privateer of the Barbary Coast

Meaning: pirate; a privateer of the Barbary Coast.

Etymology: Middle French & Old Italian; Middle French corsaire pirate; from Old Occitan corsari; from Old Italian corsaro; from Medieval Latin cursarius; from Latin cursus course course.

Topics: Law:Crime.

Origin: From French to English.

See 'corsair' on the Loan Words Map

See more loan words from French.

See more loan words from 1500s.