---
title: spoil — Early Modern English dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «spoil» in the Early Modern English dictionary: Goods taken from people or towns that were defeated, such as loot after a battle. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# spoil

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**Who acts:** people, they, Ass, cattle · **What happens:** take, defeat, ask, divide, spoil · **To what, where:** Goods, people, spoil, Ass, cities

<!-- .vabout -->
«spoil» in the Early Modern English dictionary: its meaning for a pupil and its 3 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [spoil in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/emode/w/spoil.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Goods taken from people or towns that were defeated, such as loot after a battle.

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:spoil:m1:1
# text = Goods taken from people or towns that were defeated, such as loot after a battle.
1	Goods	goods	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	2	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl:agent	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	towns	town	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	conj	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	defeated	defeat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	13	case	_	_
12	as	as	ADP	IN	_	11	fixed	_	_
13	loot	loot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
14	after	after	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	battle	battle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | participle · passive | people or towns | Goods |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |
| 2 | **defeat** | past · passive |  | people or towns |  |  |  | such loot after a battle | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of man and of beast.

<!-- .note -->
From Torah NUM.31.11, JPS 1917.

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:spoil:x1:1
# text = And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of man and of beast.
1	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	6	det:predet	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	spoil	spoil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
9	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	11	det:predet	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	prey	prey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
13	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	11	nmod	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	beast	beast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | past | they | all spoil |  |  |  | all prey  both *obl* | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spoil=Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Ass was asked to divide the spoil.

<!-- .note -->
From The Aesop for Children / With pictures by Milo Winter.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:spoil:x2:1
# text = The Ass was asked to divide the spoil.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Ass	Ass	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	asked	ask	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	divide	divide	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	spoil	spoil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past · passive |  | the Ass |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **divide** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the Ass *not said here* | the spoil |  |  |  |  | vn multiply-108-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spoil=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey unto ourselves.

<!-- .note -->
From Torah DEU.3.7, JPS 1917.

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:spoil:x3:1
# text = But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey unto ourselves.
1	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
2	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	4	det:predet	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cattle	cattle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	spoil	spoil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	appos	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	cities	city	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
13	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
15	for	for	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	prey	prey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
18	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	ourselves	ourselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	14	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | past | all cattle |  |  |  |  | for a prey; unto ourselves | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent for prey=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **spoil** |  |  | the cities |  |  |  |  | nom spoil «possession transitive»: of=patient |

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**Text:** the Early Modern English dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova; its examples quote public-domain texts. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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