Dictionary

depredation en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˌdɛpɹəˈdeɪʃən/ (UK)

Etymology

From Middle French déprédation, from Latin depraedatio.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) An act of consuming agricultural resources (crops, livestock), especially as plunder.
   • An animal that produces only two to four young per year cannot suffer vast depredations on the adult population without drastic effects. 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 61:
   • Depredation of cultivated crops by elephants is widespread in both Africa and Asia. 2003, The Living Elephants: Evolutionary Ecology, Behavior, and Conservation, by R. Sukumar, page 299
2. (countable, uncountable) A raid or predatory attack.
   • Despite losing its overall roof to the depredations of the Luftwaffe in the Second World War, the main building survives in all its Gothic glory. 2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 74:
   • Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman had long known that his fragile supply and communication lines through Tennessee were in serious jeopardy because of depredations by Forrest's cavalry raids. (Battle of Brice's Crossroads)

Forms

Relateds

prey · predation · predator

Translations (13)

hi लूटपाट (A raid or predatory attack) · fi hävitys (An act of consuming agricultural resources) · ru опустоше́ние (An act of consuming agricultural resources) · da plyndring (A raid or predatory attack) · bg плячкосване (A raid or predatory attack) · nl rooftocht (A raid or predatory attack) · ru по́рча (An act of consuming agricultural resources) · fi autioittaminen (An act of consuming agricultural resources) · sv räd (A raid or predatory attack) · nl plundering (A raid or predatory attack) · hu kifosztás (A raid or predatory attack) · fi ryöstäminen (A raid or predatory attack) · ru налёт (A raid or predatory attack)