expropriate

[ eks-proh-pree-eyt ]

/ ɛksˈproʊ priˌeɪt /

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

Nearby words

expressivity, expressly, expressman, expresso, expressway, expropriate, expropriation, expt., exptl, exptl., expugn

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 forms

ex·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, noun

de-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

Thus we shall merely indicate the manner by which expropriation might be accomplished without the intervention of Government.
The Conquest of Bread|Peter Kropotkin
Expropriation will extend just to that which makes it possible for any one to exploit another's labor.
Anarchism|Paul Eltzbacher
Like Bismarck, he enforced in Poland the inexorable policy of expropriation and appropriation.
German Problems and Personalities|Charles Sarolea
Let us see what the Socialist poets think of the expropriation of property-owners.
British Socialism|J. Ellis Barker

The opponents of expropriation seek shelter behind the excuse that the peasants attack the principle of private ownership.
The Old World and Its Ways|William Jennings Bryan

British Dictionary definitions for expropriation

expropriate

/ (ɛksˈprəʊprɪˌeɪt) /

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 (1 of 2)

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."

Word Origin and History for expropriation (1 of 2)

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.