Where does “usurp” come from?
Usurp derives from Middle English usurpen, from Old French usurper, from Latin usurpare meaning to seize or use wrongfully, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning to seize and take.
usurp (English): To seize power from another, usually by...
Definitions
- To seize power from another, usually by...
Ancestry of “usurp”, step by step
usurp traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French usurper
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | usurper | to usurp |
| 2 | German | usurpieren | to usurp |
| 3 | Spanish | usurpar | to usurp |
| 4 | Portuguese | usurpar | to usurp |
| 5 | Italian | usurpare | to usurp, to take over |
| 6 | Latin | ūsurpō | to use, take into use, make use of, employ, apply, practise, exercise, enjoy; perform, execute |
| 7 | Latin | ūsus | use, employment, exercise, advantage |
| 8 | Latin | ūtor | to use, make use of, employ |
| 9 | Proto-Slavic | *ǫtorъ | croze |
| 10 | Proto-Slavic | torъ | paddock, pen |
| 11 | Proto-Slavic | terti | to rub, to scrape; to polish |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | terh₁- | to rub, turn; to drill, pierce |