Half of these words are about grabbing, and half are about letting go. Kings and crowns appear often, because power changing hands is where English needed the most exact words.
Key idea
Taking: usurp (without the right), confiscate (by authority), appropriate (for your own use), commandeer (for urgent official use), wrest (by force or effort). Giving up: relinquish (let go), renounce (formally give up), repudiate (reject, disown), forfeit (lose as a penalty), abdicate (give up a throne or duty).
Ask two questions about each word: who has the right to the thing, and is it taken by force, by authority or by choice? The answers sort the words.
The ten words
Common mistake
appropriate as a verb (uh-PRO-pree-ate) means to take; as an adjective (uh-PRO-pree-it) it means suitable.
| word | taking or giving up? | how |
|---|---|---|
| usurp | taking | without the right |
| confiscate | taking | by authority, as a penalty |
| appropriate | taking | for your own use |
| commandeer | taking | for urgent or official use |
| wrest | taking | by force or great effort |
| relinquish, renounce | giving up | letting go; formally declaring it |
| repudiate | giving up | rejecting, disowning |
| forfeit | giving up | losing as a penalty |
| abdicate | giving up | a throne or a duty |
Appropriate has two pronunciations. The verb (uh-PROH-pree-ayt) means to take; the adjective (uh-PROH-pree-it) means suitable. “It is not appropriate to appropriate your sister’s pillow.”