Appropriators

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Those who take something for their own use, often without permission
2. individuals or groups that borrow aspects from a culture or community for personal benefit or gain
3. persons who allocate resources or assets, typically in a manner that may lack regard for the original context or intent

Etymology: "Appropriators" is the plural of "appropriator," a word built in English from "appropriate" plus the agent suffix "-or," which marks a person or thing that performs an action. The verb "appropriate" comes from Latin "appropriare," meaning to make one's own, and it passed into English with a sense of taking something for private use. Its meaning was once quite literal: to appropriate a thing was to claim it for oneself or set it apart for a particular purpose. The "-or" ending has a longer journey. It descends from Latin "-tor," traceable back to Proto-Indo-European, and reached English through Old French and Middle English. Attaching it to "appropriate" yields a straightforward label for someone who takes or assigns something. The modern sense, one who allocates resources in a way that disregards their original context, grows naturally from that older idea of making a thing one's own.

Synonyms: seizers, usurpers