▪ I. usurper, n.
(juːˈzɜːpə(r))
Also 5 usurpur, 6 Sc. -ar.
[a. OF. usurpeur (1321), or f. usurp v. + -er1. Cf. usurpor, and Pr. usurpaire.]
1. One who usurps a crown or throne; one who seizes or arrogates supreme power or authority without right or just cause.
In frequent use from c 1700.
| 1414 Earl of Cambridge in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. I. 45 Harry of Lancastre usurpur of Yngland. 1477 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 193/2 His enemies mortall, the usurpers, laboryng..to exclude hym..from the Regalie. 1520 Caxton's Chron. Eng. v. 62 b/1 He..slewe Leo the vsurper of his realme. 1574 Homilies ii. Rebellion vi. 609 That forraigne false vsurper the Bishop of Rome. 1587 Mirr. Mag., Porrex x, Vsurpers may perswade themselues a while There is no God, no lawes of sacred crowne. 1627 P. Fletcher Locusts i. xxi, They crowne Usurpers with a wreath of lead. 1663 South Serm. (1717) V. 95 They sounded the first Trumpet to Rebellion,..courting and recognizing an Usurper [sc. Cromwell]. 1727 De Foe Syst. Magic i. iii. (1840) 68 If the Devil, the ancient usurper of his throne, had not been at work again to step up in his room. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. 32 But King James was a bad king with a good title, and not an usurper. 1831 James Phil. Augustus II. ii, The barons of England adhered to an usurper..rather than to their legitimate prince. 1869 J. Baldwin Brown Misread Passages ix. 124 Who would recognise an usurper because he occupies the palace and assumes the signet of the rightful king? 1882 J. Rhys Celtic Britain v. 189 Macbeth was not a mere usurper. |
| attrib. and Comb. 1670 Dryden 1st Pt. Conq. Granada iii. i, Too well I know her blandishments to gain, Usurper-like, till settled in her reign. 1877 W. R. Cooper Egypt. Obelisks xii. 66 The power of the half usurper king of Egypt. |
b. One who illegally or unjustly seizes, appropriates, or intrudes into any office, property, rights, etc. Also const. upon.
| c 1425 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 682 There were bosters, braggars, & brybores,..Wrong vsurpers, with great extorcioners. 1567 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 547 Gif he [sc. a discharged custom-house officer] forder intromettis, he salbe repute ane usurpar to our Soverane Lordis authoritie. 1599 T. Storer Life & D. Wolsey D 4, Victorious Iosuah that in armes subdued Prophane vsurpers of their hallowed things, And smote their leaders. 1628 [see usurpation 3]. 1697 Dryden Virg., Past. viii. 62 In Desarts thou wert bred; And at the Dugs of Salvage Tygers fed: Alien of Birth, Usurper of the Plains. 1713 Gibson Codex 782/2 If the Incumbency be by Usurpation, and the Usurper and Ordinary Confirm the Parson's Lease. 1769 Robertson Chas. V, x. Wks. 1813 III. 214 Compelled..to submit to the jurisdiction of magistrates whom they destested as usurpers. 1771 Goldsm. Hist. Eng. III. 19 They represented him as..an unjust usurper upon the privileges of the council. 1818 Cobbett Pol. Reg. XXXIII. 237 The tyrant usurpers of our rights. 1840 Hood Up Rhine 47 ‘The end was, I got my bed.’ ‘And what excuse..did the usurper offer for his intrusion?’ |
c. fig. and transf.
| a 1628 F. Grevil Cælica xcvi. (1633) 244 Pleasure is chosen as a Goddesse fit, The wealth of Nature freely to impart;..Which faire Vsurper runnes a Rebel's way. 1632 Lithgow Trav. v. 186 The vsurpers of Gods word..maintaine..that famous Kingdome, being but one thousand and fifty Turkes in all. 1847 Emerson Repr. Men, Napoleon ¶4 [He] becomes..actually a monopolizer and usurper of other minds. 1898 Talmage Serm. in Chrn. Herald (N.Y.) 12 Jan. 24/3 That man has made that which might be a healthful recreation an usurper of his affections. 1900 ‘J. Doe’ Bridge Man. 9 If a player deals out of turn he may be stopped.., but if he completes his deal, the deal holds good, and the usurpers make the declaration. |
† 2. A conqueror or vanquisher of something.
| 1509 Parl. Devylles lxiv, I [sc. Christ] am lorde and kynge of blysse, Usurper of dethe, myghty in fyght. |
Hence uˈsurpership. rare—1.
| 1781 Bp. Watson in Farquhar Bps. of Dunkeld (1915) iii. 18 As if the Lord's Day had been equally the institution of his [George III's] present usurpership. |
▪ II. † uˈsurper, v. Obs.—1
[f. prec.]
intr. (with it). To play the usurper.
| 1656 S. H. Gold. Law 57 He invades, and evades Law, and..yet neither Usurpers nor Arbytraters it. |