The act of stealing or taking away something valuable from someone, especially through force or wrongdoing.
From Old French 'despoillier' (to plunder), combining Latin prefix 'dis-' (away) and 'spoliare' (to rob). The meaning evolved from literal plundering of goods to metaphorical stripping away of anything valuable or precious.
Despoiling appears frequently in historical accounts of invasions and colonialism—it's the legal term historians use to describe systematic theft on a massive scale, from art during wartime to natural resources from colonized lands.
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