appropriation
noun
Appropriation — the deliberate taking of something, often without permission
Definition
A deliberate act of acquisition of something, often without the permission of the owner; "the necessary funds were obtained by the government's appropriation of the company's operating unit"; "a person's appropriation of property belonging to another is dishonest"
In depth
Appropriation is a deliberate act of acquisition, often conducted without the permission of the original owner, whether of land, funds, cultural elements, or creative work. The word carries significant weight across legal, political, and cultural contexts, frequently controversial precisely because it names an acquisition whose legitimacy is, at minimum, contested.
Origin
The word descends from Latin appropriare, to make one's own, formed from ad- (to) and proprius (one's own, proper). That underlying sense of making something one's own, regardless of its original owner's consent, remains central to the word's modern use, appropriation conceived as a deliberate claiming of ownership that the original possessor may never have actually granted.
Usage examples
"The legislature's appropriation of emergency funds required no further approval once the crisis had been formally declared."
"Critics accused the artist of cultural appropriation, borrowing significant elements from a tradition not her own without proper acknowledgment."
"The government's appropriation of the land for the new highway displaced dozens of longtime residents."
How to use it
Appropriation is significant vocabulary across legal, governmental, and cultural writing, particularly important in contemporary discussions of cultural appropriation, where the word's connotation of taking without full permission or proper acknowledgment carries genuine ethical weight.
Related concepts
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