Usurped

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To wrongfully take control or possession of something that belongs to another, often referring to authority or rights, typically without legal justification
2. To unlawfully assume power or property that rightfully belongs to someone else, frequently involving the infringement of their rights
3. To take control or authority over something by force or without legal right, especially at the expense of the original holder

Etymology: "Usurped" is the past tense and past participle of "usurp", so the story belongs to the verb itself. The root is Latin "ūsūrpō", which combined "ūsus", the use or employment of something, with "rapiō"-like seizing of it: to seize and use something for oneself. The Latin sense was about taking hold of something, with no particular stress on wrongdoing, and the Latin word also gave later English its idea of seizing a thing that is not yours. The word reached English in Middle English as "usurpen", borrowed through Old French "usurper". Its early English uses carried the sense of illegitimately taking a throne, power, or office, which is why the verb still carries the weight of stolen authority rather than simple possession. Note that "usury", the lending of money at interest, looks similar and comes from the same Latin "ūsūra" meaning use, but it reached English through a different path. Both words share the notion of "use", yet one came to mean taking charge of power and the other taking payment for a loan.

Synonyms: seized, taken, appropriated

Antonyms: relinquished, surrendered