Commandeer

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /kɒmənˈdɪə(ɹ)/

Definitions

1. To take possession of something formally, often for military or government purposes
2. To seize control of property or equipment by legal or authoritative means, typically for public use
3. To appropriate something for official use, usually by authorities in times of need

Etymology: The verb "commandeer" has a surprisingly South African flavour in its recent past. It entered English in the late 19th century, when Dutch-speaking settlers in southern Africa used the word "commanderen" for summoning men into service. Its descendant in Afrikaans, "kommandeer", carried that sense of mustering people for military duty, and English borrowed the word in the context of Boer and British conflicts there, where it meant seizing men, horses or supplies for an armed force. The word's deeper roots run through French. Latin "commendare" meant to entrust or commit something to someone, and Old French turned it into "comander", which gave Middle French "commander" the sense of ordering or having authority. English already had its own descendant of that same Latin-French line in "command", so "commandeer" is effectively a second, more colourful cousin of that familiar verb, a doublet that took a separate route through Dutch and Afrikaans before arriving in English.

Synonyms: seize, appropriate

Antonyms: return, release