Robber

How to spell robber

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce robber

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does robber mean?

1. nounA person who steals money or property, often using force or threats.

Robber in a sentence

• The bank robber was caught on the security camera.

• Police arrested the robber a few streets from the jewellery shop.

Where does robber come from?

Language of origin: French

This word grows out of the verb 'rob', which English took from the Old French rober, meaning 'to steal, plunder, or strip someone of their goods'. The French verb itself came from a Germanic source, the Frankish raubon 'to rob', which is closely related to the Old English reafian and the modern German rauben, all carrying the sense of seizing property by force. Interestingly, the same Germanic root lies behind the word 'robe', because a 'robe' originally meant clothing or booty taken as plunder, a garment stripped from its owner. The agent noun 'robber', meaning the person who does the robbing, was formed by adding the suffix '-er' and appeared in English in the 1200s. The doubled 'b' is the spelling trap: because 'rob' ends in a single consonant after a short vowel, that 'b' is doubled before the '-er', a rule that catches writers who expect just one.

How the word is built

• rob (to steal by force)
• -b- (doubled consonant after a short vowel)
• -er (agent noun: one who does)