Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Usurp
U-surp′
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Usurped
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Usurping
.] [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
.] 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. Shakespeare
Another revolution, to get rid of this illegitimate and
usurped
government, would of course be perfectly justifiable. Burke.
☞ Usurp is applied to seizure and use of office, functions, powers, rights, etc.; it is not applied to common dispossession of private property.
Syn. – To arrogate; assume; appropriate.
U-surp′
,Verb.
I.
To commit forcible seizure of place, power, functions, or the like, without right; to commit unjust encroachments; to be, or act as, a usurper.
The parish churches on which the Presbyterians and fanatics had
usurped
. Evelyn.
And now the Spirits of the Mind
Are busy with poor Peter Bell;
Upon the rights of visual sense
More terrible than magic spell.
Are busy with poor Peter Bell;
Upon the rights of visual sense
Usurping
, with a prevalenceMore terrible than magic spell.
Wordsworth.
Webster 1828 Edition
Usurp
USURP'
,Verb.
T.
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.
Vice sometimes usurps the place of virtue.
[Usurp is not applied to common dispossession of private property.]
Definition 2025
usurp
usurp
English
Verb
usurp (third-person singular simple present usurps, present participle usurping, simple past and past participle usurped)
- To seize power from another, usually by illegitimate means.
- To use and assume the coat of arms of another person.
- (obsolete) To make use of.
- 1662, Henry More, An Antidote Against Atheism, Appendix, A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More, p. 149:
- " […] especially considering that even Matter it self, in which they tumble and wallow, which they feel with their hands and usurp with all their Senses […] "
- 1662, Henry More, An Antidote Against Atheism, Appendix, A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More, p. 149:
Translations
to seize power
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