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Definition of Predation - 4 dictionary results

pre⋅da⋅tion

  [pri-dey-shuhn]
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–noun
1. depredation; plundering.
2. act of plundering or robbing.
3. predatory behavior.
4. a relation between animals in which one organism captures and feeds on others.
Origin:
1425–75; late ME < L praedātiōn- (s. of praedātiō) a taking of booty, plundering, equiv. to praedāt(us), ptp. of praedārī to plunder, catch (see predator ) + -iōn-
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pre·da·tion   (prĭ-dā'shən)   
n.  
  1. The act or practice of plundering or marauding.
  2. The capturing of prey as a means of maintaining life.

[Middle English predacion, from Latin praedātiō, praedātiōn-, from praedātus, past participle of praedārī, to plunder; see predatory.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Predation

Pre*da"tion\, n. [L. praedatio, fr. praedari to plunder.] The act of pillaging. --E. Hall.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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predation 
c.1460, "act of plundering or pillaging," from L. prædationem (nom. prædatio) "a plundering, act of taking booty," from prædari "to rob, to plunder," from præda "plunder, booty, prey" (see prey). Zoological sense recorded from 1932. Predatory is first recorded 1589; of animals, 1668. Predator is from 1922, originally (1840) used of insects that ate other insects. The verb predate "to seek prey" (1974) is a modern back-formation.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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