< /bænˈdɪt i/.
- a robber, especially a member of a gang or marauding band.
- an outlaw or highwayman.
- Informal.
- a person who takes unfair advantage of others, as a merchant who overcharges; swindler; cheat.
- a vendor, cab driver, etc., who operates a business or works without a required license or permit, and without observing the usual rules or practices.
- Military Informal. an enemy aircraft, especially an attacking fighter.
- make out like a bandit, Slang. to be extremely successful; profit greatly: The early investors in the company have made out like bandits.
noun plural -dits or -ditti (-ˈdɪtɪ)
- a robber, esp a member of an armed gang; brigand
1590s, from Italian bandito (plural banditi) “outlaw,” past participle of bandire “proscribe, banish,” from Vulgar Latin *bannire “to proclaim, proscribe,” from Proto-Germanic *bann (see ban (v.)). *Bannire (or its Frankish cognate *bannjan) in Old French became banir-, which, with lengthened stem, became English banish.