Appropriating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To seize or claim something for personal use, typically without consent, to allocate resources or funds for particular purposes, and to engage in unauthorized acquisition of goods or property
2. To take possession of items for individual benefit, usually disregarding the original owner's rights, to assign specific uses to resources or materials, and to partake in the illicit use or allocation of assets
3. Acting to claim or seize something for personal use without approval ; designating funds or materials to particular functions or tasks

Etymology: The verb "appropriate" is built from Latin "ad" ("to") and "proprius" ("one's own, private"), so its core idea is making something one's own. Latin "appropriare" meant exactly that: to make a thing your own property. English borrowed the word in its participial form, "appropriatus," and the verb took shape in Middle English as "appropriaten." The sense of taking things for oneself, often without regard for their rightful owner, is the older and more pointed meaning, and it sits close to the original Latin idea. The modern "appropriating" keeps both threads. It can describe a harmless act of assigning something to a particular use, such as appropriating funds for a building project. It can also describe the seizure of someone else's property. The grammatical form is simply the present participle and gerund of the verb, so the word's history is entirely the history of "appropriate."

Synonyms: seizing, taking, usurping

Antonyms: returning, relinquishing, giving