expropriate

[eks-proh-pree-eyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR expropriate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), ex·pro·pri·at·ed, ex·pro·pri·at·ing.

to take possession of, especially for public use by the right of eminent domain, thus divesting the title of the private owner: The government expropriated the land for a recreation area.

to dispossess (a person) of ownership: The revolutionary government expropriated the landowners from their estates.

to take (something) from another's possession for one's own use: He expropriated my ideas for his own article.

RELATED WORDS

appropriation, confiscation, arrogation

Origin of expropriate

1605–15; < Medieval Latin expropriātus separated from one's own (past participle of expropriāre), equivalent to ex- ex-¹ + propri(āre) to appropriate (derivative of proprius proper) + -ātus -ate¹

Related formsex·pro·pri·a·ble

[eks-proh-pree-uh-buh l] /ɛksˈproʊ pri ə bəl/, adjectiveex·pro·pri·a·tion, nounex·pro·pri·a·tion·ist, adjective, nounex·pro·pri·a·tor, nounde-ex·pro·pri·a·tion, nounun·ex·pro·pri·a·ble, adjectiveun·ex·pro·pri·at·ed, adjective

Can be confusedappropriate apropos expropriate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for expropriation

Historical Examples of expropriation

Now, what we fear with regard to Expropriation is exactly the contrary.
The Conquest of Bread
Peter Kropotkin
The expropriation of peasants is in full swing in Austria also.
Woman and Socialism
August Bebel
A new system of expropriation has been adopted since 1910 by the City.
Montreal 1535-1914, Volume II (of 2)
William Henry Atherton
They will destroy the State, and will urge on the people to the expropriation of the rich.
Anarchism and Socialism
George Plechanoff
Expropriation can only be undertaken in the common interest and in virtue of a law.
The New Germany
George Young

British Dictionary definitions for expropriation

expropriate

verb (tr)

to deprive (an owner) of (property), esp by taking it for public useSee also eminent domain

Derived Formsexpropriable, adjectiveexpropriation, nounexpropriator, noun

Word Origin for expropriate

C17: from Medieval Latin expropriāre to deprive of possessions, from proprius own

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for expropriation

mid-15c., "renunciation of worldly goods," from Medieval Latin expropriationem (nominative expropriatio), noun of action from Late Latin expropriare "deprive of property," from ex- "away from" (see ex-) + propriare "to appropriate" (see appropriate). Sense of "a taking of someone's property," especially for public use, is from 1848; as Weekley puts it, "Current sense of organized theft appears to have arisen among Ger. socialists."

expropriate

1610s, back-formation from expropriation, or from earlier adjective (mid-15c.), or from Medieval Latin expropriatus, past participle of expropriare "to deprive of one's own." Related: Expropriated; expropriating.

Culture definitions for expropriation

expropriation

The taking over of private property by a government, often without fair compensation but usually with a legal assertion that the government has a right to do so.