Displace

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /dɪsˈpleɪs/

Definitions

1. To force someone or something to move from their usual or proper position or location
2. To cause an object or individual to be moved away from their normal location or position, often resulting in a different placement or status
3. To cause an object or person to leave their established place ; to compel individuals to abandon their residences or customary surroundings

Etymology: "Displace" is built from the prefix "dis-", meaning apart or away, and "place," a word that goes back through Old French and Latin to the idea of a open space or position. Put together, the literal sense is to take something out of its position, to move it from where it belongs. The English verb was borrowed from Middle French "desplacer," the ancestor of modern French "déplacer," which carried the same sense of shifting something from its spot. English took the word over whole, so the "dis-" and "place" pieces were already fused in the French before it arrived. The sense of forcing someone out of their home, which is the meaning given here, grew from that general idea of moving something out of its place.

Synonyms: remove, shift, dislodge, transfer, evict

Antonyms: install, settle, retain, establish, place