appropriate. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

appropriate

SYLLABICATION:	ap·pro·pri·ate
PRONUNCIATION:	-prpr-t
ADJECTIVE:	Suitable for a particular person, condition, occasion, or place; fitting.
TRANSITIVE VERB:	Inflected forms: ap·pro·pri·at·ed, ap·pro·pri·at·ing, ap·pro·pri·ates (-t)1. To set apart for a specific use: appropriating funds for education. 2. To take possession of or make use of exclusively for oneself, often without permission: Lee appropriated my unread newspaper and never returned it.
ETYMOLOGY:	Middle English appropriat, from Late Latin appropritus, past participle of approprire, to make one's own : Latin ad-, ad- + Latin proprius, own; see per¹ in Appendix I.
OTHER FORMS:	ap·propri·ate·ly —ADVERB ap·propri·ate·ness —NOUN ap·propri·ative (-tv) —ADJECTIVE ap·propri·ator —NOUN
SYNONYMS:	appropriate, arrogate, commandeer, confiscate, preempt, usurp These verbs mean to seize for oneself or as one's right: appropriated the family car; arrogated the chair at the head of the table; commandeered a plane for the escape; confiscating stolen property; preempted the glory for herself; usurped the throne. See also synonyms at allocate.


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.