Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
†DEPREDATION, n. Sc. law: “the offence of driving away numbers of cattle or other bestial, by the masterful force of armed persons. This crime, although now almost unknown in this country, was at one time very prevalent. The punishment was capital” (Sc. 1890 Bell Dict. Law Scot. 317; also 1797 D. Hume Commentaries 148, 1946 A. D. Gibb Legal Terms 28, obs.).
[Fr. déprédation, Lat. depraedatio, pillage, plundering.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Depredation n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 4 Apr 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/depredation>
