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.
To emerge very successfully; win everything: You'd make out like a bandit/ Some of the people who came on early were making out like bandits/ ''How did you make out?'' ''Like a thief''
[1960s+; based on Yiddish bonditt, ''bandit; clever, resourceful fellow'']
like a bandit, make out like a bandit, one-arm bandit