- prey (n.)
- mid-13c., "animal hunted for food," from O.Fr. preie "booty, animal taken in the chase" (1140), from L. præda "booty, plunder, game hunted," earlier præheda, related to prehendere "to grasp, seize" (see prehensile). The verb meaning "to plunder, pillage, ravage" is attested from late 13c., from O.Fr. preer, earlier preder (c.1040), from L.L. prædare. Its sense of "to kill and devour" is attested from mid-14c.