u·surp

(yo͞o-sûrp′, -zûrp′)

v. u·surped, u·surp·ing, u·surps

v.tr.

1. To seize and hold (the power or rights of another, for example) by force or without legal authority.

2. To take over or occupy without right: usurp a neighbor's land.

3. To take the place of (another) without legal authority; supplant.

v.intr.

To seize another's place, authority, or possession wrongfully.

[Middle English usurpen, from Old French usurper, from Latin ūsūrpāre, to take into use, usurp; see reup- in Indo-European roots.]

u·surp′er n.

u·surp′ing·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

usurper - one who wrongfully or illegally seizes and holds the place of another

supplanter

offender, wrongdoer - a person who transgresses moral or civil law

claim jumper - one who illegally occupies property to which another has a legal claim

Translations

مُغْتَصِب

uchvatitel

raner

σφετεριστής

usurpateur

bitorló

valdaræningi

usurpatore

tronraner

usurpador

gaspçızorla alan kimse

篡位者

usurper

[juːˈzɜːpəʳ] N → usurpador(a) m/f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

usurper

[juːˈzɜː^rpə^r] (formal) n → usurpateur/trice m/f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

usurper

n → unrechtmäßiger Machthaber, unrechtmäßige Machthaberin, Usurpator(in) m(f) (geh); (fig) → Eindringling m; the usurper of the throne → der Thronräuber; the usurper of his father’s throne → der unrechtmäßige Nachfolger seines Vaters auf dem Thron

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

usurper

[juːˈzɜːpəʳ] n → usurpatore/trice

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

usurp

(juˈzəːp) verb

to take (another person's power, position etc) without the right to do so. The king's uncle tried to usurp the throne; I shall not allow him to usurp my authority.

uˈsurper noun

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

I say at once there are fewer difficulties in holding hereditary states, and those long accustomed to the family of their prince, than new ones; for it is sufficient only not to transgress the customs of his ancestors, and to deal prudently with circumstances as they arise, for a prince of average powers to maintain himself in his state, unless he be deprived of it by some extraordinary and excessive force; and if he should be so deprived of it, whenever anything sinister happens to the usurper, he will regain it.

View in context

"The honorable, the king's attorney, is informed by a friend of the throne and religion, that one Edmond Dantes, mate of the ship Pharaon, arrived this morning from Smyrna, after having touched at Naples and Porto-Ferrajo, has been intrusted by Murat with a letter for the usurper, and by the usurper with a letter for the Bonapartist committee in Paris.

View in context

Why, they are sending ambassadors to compliment the usurper."

"The Emperor Alexander," said she, with the melancholy which always accompanied any reference of hers to the Imperial family, "has declared that he will leave it to the French people themselves to choose their own form of government; and I believe that once free from the usurper, the whole nation will certainly throw itself into the arms of its rightful king," she concluded, trying to be amiable to the royalist emigrant.

View in context

And if the usurper had been recognized by Anne of Austria, he would still have been - her son.

View in context

As she progressed with her practice, she was surprised to see how steadily and surely the awe which had kept her tongue reverent and her manner humble toward her young master was transferring itself to her speech and manner toward the usurper, and how similarly handy she was becoming in transferring her motherly curtness of speech and peremptoriness of manner to the unlucky heir of the ancient house of Driscoll.

View in context

Earnshaw's death, which happened in less than two years after, the young master had learned to regard his father as an oppressor rather than a friend, and Heathcliff as a usurper of his parent's affections and his privileges; and he grew bitter with brooding over these injuries.

View in context

In a single state, if the persons intrusted with supreme power become usurpers, the different parcels, subdivisions, or districts of which it consists, having no distinct government in each, can take no regular measures for defense.

View in context

I chiefly fed mine eyes with beholding the destroyers of tyrants and usurpers, and the restorers of liberty to oppressed and injured nations.

View in context

"This tulip has already been claimed by usurpers. It's true that it is worth a hundred thousand guilders."

View in context

1485: The Battle of Bosworth Field was fought in Leicestershire and Richard III was butchered as he vainly tried to reach the usurper Henry Tudor.

On this day..

The original saw Irons deliver a menacing performance as the Machiavellian usurper of the throne, Scar, who convinces Simba he was responsible for the death of his father, Mufasa, in order to become king.

Circle of life as Ejiofor portrays Scar differently; UK & WORLD