usurpar

Forms

usurpar (first-person singular present usurpo, first-person singular preterite usurpei, past participle usurpado)^[1] Medieval documents write vsurpar and osurpar.^[2] Feijó (1734) warns against the spelling ursupar.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ūsūrpō (“to take into use; to take possession of”).^[4][5][1] Nascentes calls it a learned word.^[6] The same Latin verb gave French usurper, first recorded in 1340, and Spanish usurpar.^[7][8]

The Latin verb is usually explained as a compound of ūsus (“use”) and rapiō (“to seize”): the OLD derives it from *ūsuripō, and Lewis & Short call it perhaps a contraction of ⟨usu rapio⟩ "to seize by use".^[9][10][1] In Latin it meant "to take into use, employ" and, in the law, "to take possession of property on one's own initiative, without strict legal claim".^[9][10] The DHLF describes it as a legal term for taking possession through use.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

R. Lorenzo's chronology has the first records: in 1412 a document forbids that anyone britase nem vsurpasse a jurdição dessa çidade "break or usurp the jurisdiction of that city", and one of 1415 repeats nem vsurpase ha jurdição.^[2] Houaiss and Cunha date the verb to the 15th century.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The first records are about jurisdiction and land: a text of 1491 complains that someone nos toma e osurpa noso termino "takes and usurps our district from us".^[2] Bluteau (1712–1728) defines it as "to appropriate something unjustly", Morais (1813) as "to take what belongs to another, its possession or the right to it".^[11][12] Vieira (1871–1874) adds the figurative use with reputation, glory or esteem as the object.^[13]

The derivatives follow later: Cunha dates usurpação to 1808 and usurpador to 1813.^[5] The DLP records a rare sense "to prevent someone from having or doing something".^[14]

Timeline

• 1412 – vsurpasse a jurdição in a document.^[2]
• 1491 – osurpa noso termino, and usurpar in the same text.^[2]
• 1567 – husurpou in a private letter.^[15]
• 1697 – Pereira enters Usurpar with Latin usurpo.^[16]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines it as appropriating something unjustly.^[11]
• 1734 – Feijó prescribes usurpar, not ursupar.^[3]
• 1808 – first record of usurpação.^[5]
• 1813 – first record of usurpador;^[5][12] Morais's definition.^[5][12]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To take possession of (something) by force or without right; to usurp, seize (apoderar-se): O sobrinho usurpou a coroa.^[4][17][1]
2. (transitive) To hold or exercise (an office, a function) unlawfully.^[4][18]
3. (transitive) To obtain by fraud (fraude).^[17][19]
4. (transitive) To take for oneself, to assume (a place, a role) without merit.^[4][20]
5. (transitive, rare) To prevent (someone) from having or doing something.^[14]

Word family

• usurpação
• usurpador

Related words

• uso
• usura
• Latin ūsūrpō
• Spanish usurpar

Usage notes

Feijó's spelling guide of 1734 warns against the metathesised form ursupar.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. usurpar
3. ^ a b c Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. usurpar
4. ^ a b c d e Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. usurpar
5. ^ a b c d e f Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. usurpar
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. usurpar
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. usurper
8. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. usurpar
9. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. ūsurpō
10. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. usurpo
11. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. usurpar
12. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 822
13. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 5, 865
14. ^ a b Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. usurpar
15. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. usurpar
16. ^ Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. usurpar
17. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. usurpar
18. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. usurpar
19. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. usurpar
20. ^ Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. usurpar