Word
abactor
Phoneticsabac·tor
Definition
n. someone who steals a whole group of farm animals, like a herd of cows or sheep, at one time. This is an old legal word for a cattle thief.
n. a person who steals cattle or other livestock in large numbers or herds. Archaic in register; historically used in legal contexts to distinguish large-scale theft from the stealing of a single animal.
Examples
“The abactor drove the entire herd of cattle across the border.”
“In historical legal texts, an abactor was punished more severely than a common thief because they stole entire herds.”
“The local magistrate struggled to apprehend the abactor who had systematically depleted the valley's livestock over several moonless nights.”
Examples
simple
“The abactor drove the entire herd of cattle across the border.”
contextual
“In historical legal texts, an abactor was punished more severely than a common thief because they stole entire herds.”
complex
“The local magistrate struggled to apprehend the abactor who had systematically depleted the valley's livestock over several moonless nights.”
Usage
Primarily found in historical or legal dictionaries; the term is obsolete in modern common law.
Etymology
From Late Latin abactor (“cattle rustler”), from abigō (“drive away”); from ab (“from, away from”) + agō (“drive”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.