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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Usurpation \U`sur*pa"tion\, n. [L. usurpatio ? making use,
usurpation: cf. F. usurpation.]
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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.
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He contrived their destruction, with the usurpation
of the regal dignity upon him. --Sir T. More.
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A law [of a State] which is a usurpation upon the
general government. --O.
Ellsworth.
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Manifest usurpation on the rights of other States.
--D. Webster.
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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.
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2. Use; usage; custom. [Obs.] --Bp. Pearson.
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