usurp
UK /juːˈzɜːp/ · US /juˈsɝp/ verb
Forms usurps usurping usurped
- verb To seize and hold or use (powers, an office, a coat of arms, a right or copyright, etc) from another, without right (usually by illegitimate means).
- verb To take the place of someone or something else; to supplant.
- verb (obsolete) To make use of.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English usurpen, from Old French usurper, from Latin ūsūrpō.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To seize, and hold in possession, by force, or without right; as, to usurp a throne; to usurp the prerogatives of the crown; to usurp power; to usurp the right of a patron is to oust or dispossess him. Alack, thou dost usurp authority. Shak.
- verb To commit forcible seizure of place, power, functions, or the like, without right; to commit unjust encroachments; to be, or act as, a usurper.
Etymology [L. usurpare, usurpatum, to make use of, enjoy, get possession of, usurp; the first part of usurpare is akin to usus use (see Use, n.): cf. F. usurper.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “usurp”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details