WORD OF THE DAY FOR 18 OCTOBER 2005

expropriate • \ek-SPROH-pree-ayt\ • verb
1 : to deprive of possession or proprietary rights*
2 : to transfer (the property of another) to one's own possession

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?exprop01.wav=expropriate

Example sentence:When Maria went home, we expropriated her pens and extra paper to finish the group project.


Did you know?If you guessed that "expropriate" has something in common with the verb "appropriate," you're right. Both words ultimately derive from the Latin adjective "proprius," meaning "own." "Expropriate" came to us by way of the Medieval Latin verb "expropriare," itself from Latin "ex-" ("out of" or "from") and "proprius." "Appropriate" descends from Late Latin "appropriare," which joins "proprius" and Latin "ad-" ("to" or "toward"). Both the verb "appropriate" ("to take possession of" or "to set aside for a particular use") and the adjective "appropriate" ("fitting" or "suitable") have been with us since the 15th century, and "expropriate" has been a part of the language since at least 1611. Other "proprius" descendants in English include "proper" and "property."