confiscate

Definition

To use one's authority to lay claim to and separate a possession from its holder.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cōnfiscātus, the perfect passive participle of Latin cōnfiscō (“to seize for the public treasury (fiscus)”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

Example Sentences

• "In schools, it is common for teachers to confiscate electronic games and other distractions."
• "We doe confiscate (Towards the satisfying of your accounts) All that you haue."
• "1768, Alexander Dow (translator), The History of Hindostan by Muḥammad Qāsim Hindū Shāh Astarābādī, London: T. Becket & P.A. de Hondt, Volume 2, Section 4, p. 63, The Persian having evacuated the imperial provinces, the vizier became more cruel and oppressive than ever: he extorted money from the poor by tortures, and confiscated the estates of the nobility, upon false or very frivolous pretences."

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