Dispossessor

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person or entity that takes away someone else's property or rights
2. one who deprives another of possessions, often through legal means
3. An individual responsible for the removal of ownership from another, often associated with eviction or confiscation

Etymology: "Dispossessor" is built from "dispossess" and the agent suffix "-or", which turns a verb into a noun for the one who performs its action. Its history is therefore that of "dispossess" itself, which came into English from Anglo-Norman and Old French "desposseser," formed from "des-" (undoing or removing) and "possesser" (to possess). The verb's core sense is to strip someone of land, goods or a right they hold, and "dispossessor" follows that sense directly: it names whoever carries out the stripping. The suffix does most of the work here. English has long attached "-or" to verbs of Latin or French origin to label the doer, as with "creditor," "debtor" and "oppressor," and "dispossessor" joins that family. Because the formation is transparent, the word needs no special story; its meaning can be read straight off its parts.

Synonyms: expropriator, usurper, seizer, grabber, takeover

Antonyms: possessor, owner, holder, proprietor, guardian