| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| usurp |
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| SYLLABICATION: | u·surp |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  y -sûrp , -zûrp |
| VERB: | Inflected forms: u·surped, u·surp·ing, u·surps
| | TRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To seize and hold (the power or rights of another, for example) by force and without legal authority. See synonyms at appropriate. 2. To take over or occupy without right: usurp a neighbor's land. | | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | To seize another's place, authority, or possession wrongfully. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English usurpen, from Old French usurper, from Latin  srp re, to take into use, usurp. See reup- in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | u·surper —NOUN
u·surping·ly —ADVERB
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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