thug
/θʌg/noun
1
- a violent person, especially a criminal恶棍, 暴徒; 罪犯。
- ORIGIN: mid 19th cent.: extension of sense 2.
2
Thug
historical a member of a religious organization of robbers and assassins in India. Devotees of the goddess Kali, the Thugs waylaid and strangled their victims, usually travellers, in a ritually prescribed manner. They were suppressed by the British in the 1830s.〈史〉强盗及杀手团伙成员（由抢劫者和刺客组成的印度宗教团体成员, 信奉卡莉女神, 惯常的做法是拦路抢劫并勒死受害人, 通常为旅客, 19世纪30年代被英国人镇压）。
派生词
thuggery
nounthuggish
adjectivethuggishly
adverbthuggishness
noun词源
early 19th cent. (in sense 2)： from Hindi ṭhag 'swindler， thief'， based on Sanskrit sthagati 'he covers or conceals'.