booty

1 of 2

noun (1)

boo·​ty ˈbü-tē 

plural booties

1

: plunder taken (as in war)

especially : plunder taken on land as distinguished from prizes taken at sea

2

: a rich gain or prize

booty

2 of 2

noun (2)

boo·​ty ˈbü-tē 

variants or less commonly bootie

plural booties

1

US slang : buttocks

He'd turned his back to the raucous crowd and shook his booty.

—Joseph Wambaugh

2

US slang : sexual intercourse

… verbalizing the paradox faced by many '90s men just trying to get some booty without offending anyone.

—Eric Berman

Did you know?

Two Kinds of Booty

Occasionally a word in English will have a number of meanings that are notably different. One example of this is nice, which may mean "pleasing," "trivial," or "fastidious." Despite their semantic differences, all of these senses have a shared pronunciation, spelling, and most importantly, etymology; the latter determines their status as different meanings of the same word. In other instances, words with distinctive meanings may share a spelling and a pronunciation but have different origins, making them entirely different words. Such is the case with booty. The sense meaning "plunder" has been in our language since the 15th century and can be traced to the Middle Low German word būte, meaning "distribution, share, plunder." The slang word booty meaning either "buttocks" or "sexual intercourse," though spelled and pronounced the same, has a distinctive origin and is therefore an entirely different word. Dating from the early 20th century, it comes (via African-American English and possibly an English-based creole) from the Early Modern English word bottie, meaning "buttocks."

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• loot
• pillage
• plunder
• spoil
• swag

Noun (2)

• backside
• behind
• bottom
• breech
• bum
• buns
• butt
• buttocks
• caboose
• can
• cheeks
• derriere
• derrière
• duff
• fanny
• fundament
• hams
• haunches
• heinie [slang]
• hunkers
• keister [slang]
• keester
• nates
• posterior
• rear
• rear end
• rump
• seat
• tail
• tail end
• tush [slang]

Choose the Right Synonym for booty

spoil, plunder, booty, prize, loot mean something taken from another by force or craft.

spoil, more commonly spoils, applies to what belongs by right or custom to the victor in war or political contest.

the spoils of political victory

plunder applies to what is taken not only in war but in robbery, banditry, grafting, or swindling.

a bootlegger's plunder

booty implies plunder to be shared among confederates.

thieves dividing up their booty

prize applies to spoils captured on the high seas or territorial waters of the enemy.

the wartime right of seizing prizes at sea

loot applies especially to what is taken from victims of a catastrophe.

picked through the ruins for loot

Examples of booty in a Sentence

Noun (1)

no one knows where Captain Kidd hid his booty, but that hasn't deterred hopeful adventurers from looking for it for the last 300 years

Noun (2)

an oldie from the disco era that urged you to shake your booty

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

modification of Middle French butin, from Middle Low German būte exchange

Noun (2)

alteration of an English-based creole word, ultimately from Early Modern English *bottie "buttocks," perhaps from bott(om) entry 1 + -ie

First Known Use

Noun (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1926, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Phrases Containing booty

• booty call

Video

Some Odd Words with ISMO: "Junk in the Trunk"

Comedian ISMO on what separates a boot from a trunk

Kids Definition

booty

noun

boo·​ty

ˈbüt-ē

1

: money or goods taken in war or by robbery : spoils

2

: a rich gain or prize