usurp

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Usurped p. pr. & vb. n. Usurping. ] [ L. usurpare, usurpatum, to make use of, enjoy, get possession of, usurp; the first part of usurpare is akin to usus use (see Use, n.): cf. F. usurper. ] To seize, and hold in possession, by force, or without right; as, to usurp a throne; to usurp the prerogatives of the crown; to usurp power; to usurp the right of a patron is to oust or dispossess him. [ 1913 Webster ]

Alack, thou dost usurp authority. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Another revolution, to get rid of this illegitimate and usurped government, would of course be perfectly justifiable. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Usurp is applied to seizure and use of office, functions, powers, rights, etc.; it is not applied to common dispossession of private property. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To arrogate; assume; appropriate. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. usurpans, p. pr. ] Usurping; encroaching. [ Obs. ] Gauden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. usurpatio &unr_; making use, usurpation: cf. F. usurpation. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The act of usurping, or of seizing and enjoying; an authorized, arbitrary assumption and exercise of power, especially an infringing on the rights of others; specifically, the illegal seizure of sovereign power; -- commonly used with of, also used with on or upon; as, the usurpation of a throne; the usurpation of the supreme power. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

He contrived their destruction, with the usurpation of the regal dignity upon him. Sir T. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

A law [ of a State ] which is a usurpation upon the general government. O. Ellsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

Manifest usurpation on the rights of other States. D. Webster. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Usurpation, in a peculiar sense, formerly denoted the absolute ouster and dispossession of the patron of a church, by a stranger presenting a clerk to a vacant benefice, who us thereupon admitted and instituted. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Use; usage; custom. [ Obs. ] Bp. Pearson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. usurpatorius. ] Marked by usurpation; usurping. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Usurpation. [ R. ] “Beneath man's usurpature.” R. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who usurps; especially, one who seizes illegally on sovereign power; as, the usurper of a throne, of power, or of the rights of a patron. [ 1913 Webster ]

A crown will not want pretenders to claim it, not usurpers, if their power serves them, to possess it. South. [ 1913 Webster ]