Meaning

noun goods or money obtained illegally

verb take illegally; of intellectual property

verb plunder (a town) after capture

originRecorded since 1632 during the Thirty Years War, native British use since the Cromwellian Civil War. Borrowed from German plündern (“to loot”), from Middle High German, from Middle Low German plunderen, from a noun originally meaning "household goods, bedding, clothing," of obscure ultimate origin. This is first attested in medieval records, and according to Gijsseling, is therefore attested too…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0