expropriate
verb
[ ɪksˈprəʊprɪeɪt ]
• (of the state or an authority) take (property) from its owner for public use or benefit.
• "their assets were expropriated by the government"
Similar:
seize,
take away,
take over,
take,
appropriate,
take possession of,
requisition,
commandeer,
claim,
make claim to,
assume,
acquire,
sequestrate,
wrest,
impound,
confiscate,
misappropriate,
usurp,
arrogate,
hijack,
distrain,
disseize,
attach,
poind,
Origin:
late 16th century: from medieval Latin expropriat- ‘taken from the owner’, from the verb expropriare, from ex- ‘out, from’ + proprium ‘property’, neuter singular of proprius ‘own’.
