confiscate

[kon-fuh-skeyt, kuhn-fis-kit]

verb (used with object)

confiscated, confiscating 

1. to seize as forfeited to the public domain; appropriate, by way of penalty, for public use.

2. to seize by or as if by authority; appropriate summarily.

   The border guards confiscated our movie cameras.

adjective

1. seized or appropriated, as for public use.

confiscate

/ ˈkɒnfɪˌskeɪt /

verb

1. to seize (property), esp for public use and esp by way of a penalty

adjective

1. seized or confiscated; forfeit

2. having lost or been deprived of property through confiscation

Other Word Forms

• confiscatable adjective
• confiscation noun
• confiscator noun
• reconfiscate verb (used with object)
• unconfiscated adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of confiscate¹

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin confiscātus “seized,” past participle of confiscāre “to seize for the public treasury,” equivalent to con- con- + fisc(us) “basket, moneybag, public treasury” ( fiscal ) + -āre, verb infinitive suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of confiscate¹

C16: from Latin confiscāre to seize for the public treasury, from fiscus basket, treasury

Example Sentences

In general, the occupying German forces and their collaborators confiscated the furniture of deported Jews.

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"I am pressing government for action, including new powers for the police to stop anyone under 18 carrying a catapult without good reason and to confiscate it," he said.

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The flotilla's cargo of aid was confiscated and humanitarian access to Gaza has not improved but Benedetta Scuderi, an MEP for the Green Left Alliance, still calls the trip a "huge achievement".

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That gun was confiscated, leading her to purchase another gun.

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Just days before Sunday's pivotal parliamentary elections, Moldovan police said they had confiscated weapons and explosives in raids across the country.

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Related Words

• appropriate 
• expropriate 
• impound