USURP', verb transitive s as z. [Latin usurpo.] To seize and hold in possession by force or without right; as, to usurp a throne; to usurp the prerogatives of the crown; to usurp power. To usurp the right of a patron, is to oust or dispossess him. Vice sometimes usurps the place of virtue. [Usurp is not applied to common dispossession of private property.]
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI