Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To claim or seize something without justification or right: To take or demand something for oneself in an overbearing or presumptuous manner, often without proper authority.
   • To attribute or assign something to oneself or another unjustifiably: To ascribe a particular quality, right, or possession to someone, especially oneself, on an unfounded basis.

Usage and Examples

• To claim/seize something unjustly:
  • The dictator arrogated the power to change the constitution.
  • He arrogated the privilege of using the company jet for personal trips.
• To attribute something unjustifiably:
  • She arrogated to herself a level of expertise she did not possess.
  • The historian warned against arrogating modern motives to ancient peoples.

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• Legal/Political Context: Often used in formal contexts to describe the unlawful or unauthorized seizure of power, rights, or privileges.
  • The committee accused the chairman of arrogating decision-making powers that belonged to the full board.
• With Prepositions: Typically used with "to oneself" or "to" when specifying the recipient of the unjust claim.
  • The general arrogated all legislative authority to himself.

Variants and Related Words

• Arrogation (noun): The act of arrogating.
  • The arrogation of these lands by the settlers was illegal.
• Arrogant (adjective): Having an exaggerated sense of one's own importance or abilities. (Shares the same Latin root but is a distinct adjective describing a personality trait, not an action).

Synonyms

• Usurp: To take a position of power or importance illegally or by force. (Often used for positions, titles, or thrones).
• Appropriate: To take something for one's own use, typically without the owner's permission. (Can be neutral or negative).
• Assume: To take or begin to have power or responsibility, sometimes without right. (Can be less negatively charged).
• Claim: To state or assert that something is the case, often without providing evidence. (Broader and more common).

Antonyms

• Relinquish: To voluntarily give up or release a claim, right, or possession.
• Cede: To give up power or territory.
• Renounce: To formally declare one's abandonment of a claim, right, or possession.

Idiomatic Expressions and Phrases

• To arrogate authority/power/rights: The most common collocation, emphasizing the seizure of a specific type of entitlement.
  • The new manager quickly arrogated the right to approve all expenditures.
• To arrogate to oneself: A standard phrase highlighting the self-directed nature of the action.
  • He arrogated to himself the sole credit for the team's success.

Verb

1. seize and take control without authority and possibly with force; take as one's right or possession
   • He assumed to himself the right to fill all positions in the town
   • he usurped my rights
   • She seized control of the throne after her husband died
2. make undue claims to having
3. demand as being one's due or property; assert one's right or title to
   • He claimed his suitcases at the airline counter
   • Mr. Smith claims special tax exemptions because he is a foreign resident