Ū'/sur-pā'tion, n.

n. [Fr. usurpation, Sp. usurpacion, It. usurpazione, Pr. & Lat. usurpatio.] 1. The act of usurping, or of seizing, or occupying and enjoying, the power or property of another without right; an unauthorized, arbitrary assumption and exercise of power, especially as infringing on the rights of others;—commonly used with of, sometimes with on or upon; as, the usurpation of a throne; the usurpation of the supreme power. “A law [of a State] which is a usurpation upon the general government.” O. Ellsworth. “A manifest usurpation on the rights of other States.” D. Webster. He contrived their destruction, with the usurpation of the regal dignity upon him. Sir T. More. Usurpation, in a peculiar sense, denotes the absolute ouster and dispossession of the patron of a church, by presenting a clerk to a vacant benefice, who is thereupon admitted and instituted. 2. The act or practice of using; usage; custom. [Obs.]