Loot Etymology

Loot is one of the many forms of actionable property. Actionable property is a term used to describe any "thing" which can be acted upon or has an effect on reality...

It is most commonly described as the property of a being to act, or its ability to cause change. It can also be described as the possession of an entity with some form of independent existence and therefore separate from any other thing...

The fact that humans have loot is what makes them different from other lowly forms of life, which are not born with any actionable property.

Loot is the basis of natural selection and as such, humans are more closely related to other beings which have loot, than they are to those without any actionable property.

The value of loot varies depending on the quality or amount that a being has. The more you have, the more valuable it is.

The term "loot" is also used to describe the total amount of actionable property that a human has. A person may have very little or a great deal.

Loot is the product of plunder, which comes from the verb 'plunder' that means to seize property or money from a place by use of force. The word originates from Middle English: louten (14c.), probably an alteration of Old North French: loter, looter ‘to draw lots’ and akin to Old English: lætan “to permit, allow” (see let).

Looter is one who plunders; robber.

Plunder is the practice of taking goods or valuable items from someone by force, typically during a war or invasion. The word originates from Middle English plonner (14c.), probably an alteration of Old North French: piller ‘to pillage’ and akin to Latin: pilare “to strip”.

So, to put it simply: loot is the product of plundering. And since plunder comes from Latin plumbum, meaning lead, which was used for making shot and bullets in ancient warfare - loot can be a lot more than just money or valuable items.

For example: A full-scale military invasion of a country, or a local war in that country, is often referred to as an act of looting.

Since the military or armed forces that are invading a foreign country by means of force have to use bullets and guns in order to take control, they often end up killing innocent people. In some cases, when the invasion is being conducted on a more massive scale, whole groups of innocent civilians can be killed.

The loot in this case is the lives of innocent civilians, whose death results from an invasion.

Loot is the redistribution of wealth, resources, or prizes by a victorious force to governing bodies as part of an economic policy. Loot can be found in many forms; ranging from abandoned material goods to valuables and even slaves captured during war.

While it is widely accepted that loot serves to benefit a governing body, the exact means by which this material wealth can be redistributed remains a source of heated debate. The general consensus among philosophers is that loot should not be considered as simple 'booty', but rather as an intrinsic element of any civilized society.

In times of war, loot can be considered as a means for nations to reap the benefits of conflict. In this sense, loot is used as a symbolic gesture toward conquest and power.

Loot is also used as a form of economic stimulus during wartime, in which the resources acquired are directly redistributed to give the population greater access to essential goods.

However, while the practice of giving resources to a population for their consumption has been widely accepted as an effective method of economic stimulus, this approach is still subject to intense debate.

While the argument can be made that loot serves as a powerful economic stimulus, it is also considered to be highly unsustainable. The general consensus among philosophers is that governments should avoid engaging in practices of such extreme short-termism.

The term 'loot' has its origins in the Old English word, which means booty, a word of Germanic origin. I have also discovered that it entered into Middle English from Anglo-Norman and Anglo-French texts. The term was borrowed from Frankish and ultimately derived from ProtoGermanic *ludatjan (to gather).

Many etymological dictionaries on the subject of this word have been written, some by experts in Old English, Middle English and Germanic linguistics. The connotations of the term 'loot' are associated with robbery and thievery. However, its widespread usage is quite different from its original definition.

The term 'loot' is used when describing the outcome of a battle, war or rebellion. It has been historically linked to warfare and conflict generally.

The word 'loot' is also used in a religious context when describing the process of divination. I would like to draw your attention to the etymology behind this usage, as it is relevant.

In the religious context, 'loot' means to divine or bewitch. The word 'divination', from which this usage derives, comes from Latin divinare , a form of devinere (to foresee). It is also related to divinus (of a god) and deus (god).

In the religious context, 'loot' is used with reference to partaking in a pagan ritual. The word 'paganism', in turn, originates from late Latin pagani (country-dwellers) and ultimately derives from Proto-IndoEuropean *pag-. It means civilian or country dweller.