WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : U`sur*pa"tion
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [L. usurpatio making use, usurpation: cf. F. usurpation.]
Definition : 1. The act of usurping, or of seizing and enjoying; an authorized, arbitrary assumption and exercise of power, especially an infringing on the rights of others; specifically, the illegal seizure of sovereign power; -- commonly used with of, also used with on or upon; as, the usurpation of a throne; the usurpation of the supreme power.

He contrived their destruction, with the usurpation of the regal dignity upon him. Sir T. More. A law [of a State] which is a usurpation upon the general government. O. Ellsworth. Manifest usurpation on the rights of other States. D. Webster.

Note: Usurpation, in a peculiar sense, formerly denoted the absolute ouster and dispossession of the patron of a church, by a stranger presenting a clerk to a vacant benefice, who us thereupon admitted and instituted.

2. Use; usage; custom. [Obs.] Bp. Pearson.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913