expropriate
verb
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 English 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 was officially appropriated in the 17th century. Other proprius descendants in English include proper and property.
Examples of expropriate in a Sentence
Nora Gamez Torres, Miami Herald, 3 Oct. 2025
Hendley was part of a 2018 study that found between $3.2 and $4 billion of wealth was expropriated during the 1950s and 1960s.
—Darcel Rockett, Chicago Tribune, 6 July 2025
This time, Trump took issue with a new law by which the government could expropriate white farmers’ unused property.
—Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 1 June 2025
The White minority that had subjugated and ruled the Black majority after expropriating their land, herding them into poor Bantustans and profiting from their cheap labor, would yield to democracy and a new constitution that would grant the right to vote to all South Africans.
—Lydia Polgreen, Mercury News, 27 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for expropriate
Cite this Entry
“Expropriate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/expropriate. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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expropriate
verb
Legal Definition
expropriate
transitive verb
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