expropriate Hear it!

expropriate Definition

ex·pro·pri·ate (eks prō′prē āt′)

transitive verb expropriated -·at′ed, expropriating -·at′·ing

  1. to take (land, property, etc.) from its owner; esp., to take for public use or in the public interest, as by right of eminent domain
  2. to transfer (property) from another to oneself
  3. to deprive of ownership; dispossess

Etymology: < ML expropriatus, pp. of expropriare, to deprive of one's own < L ex-, out + proprius, one's own

Related Forms:

expropriate Synonyms

expropriate

v.

confiscate, deprive of property, dispossess; see seize 2.

expropriate Law Definition

v

Of government: forcibly to divest another of a property interest, as by eminent domain.
expropriate Usage Examples

Object

  • landlord: The Russian peasants began to expropriate the landlords and the workers took possession of the factories without taking cognizance of Marxian dicta.
  • capitalist: This will then use the capitalist state against the capitalists, and expropriate the capitalists through the state which the capitalists created.

Modifying Another Word

  • not: We would not expropriate profits that NIE had legitimately earned in the past.
  • gently: We must expropriate gently the private property on the estates assigned to us.