Dictionary

confiscate en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɒnfɪskeɪt/ (UK)
• (US) audio
• /ˈkɑnfəˌskeɪt/ (US)

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).

Meanings

1. (not-comparable, obsolete) Confiscated; seized and appropriated by the government for public use; forfeit.
   • Thy goods are confiscate unto the state, / Thy name is razed from out her records, […] 1821, Lord Byron, Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice. An Historical Tragedy, in Five Acts. […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Act V, scene i, page 151:
   • Therefore give out you are of Epidamnum, / Lest that your goods too soon be confiscate. c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
   • […] thy lands and goods / Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate / Unto the state of Venice. c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
   • [N]ot to lay into the Exchequer, or Common Treasury, such goods as are confiscate, but to store them up as holy and consecrate things, which except it bee practised, confiscations, and fines of the Common people would bee frequent, and so this State would decay by weakening the people. 1642, Walter Raleigh, “Preservation of an Aristocraty”, in The Prince, or, Maxims of State, London, page 34:

Forms

Relateds

confiscation

confiscate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɒnfɪskeɪt/ (UK)
• (US) audio
• /ˈkɑnfəˌskeɪt/ (US)

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).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To use one's authority to lay claim to and separate a possession from its holder.
   • In schools, it is common for teachers to confiscate electronic games and other distractions.
   • 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.
   • We doe confiscate (Towards the satisfying of your accounts) All that you haue. c. 1613, John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi, London: John Waterson, published 1623, Act III, Scene 2:
   • Whenever you strike a frontier—that’s the border of a country, you know—you find a custom-house there, and the gov’ment officers comes and rummages among your things and charges a big tax, which they call a duty because it’s their duty to bust you if they can, and if you don’t pay the duty they’ll hog your sand. They call it confiscating, but that don’t deceive nobody, it’s just hogging, and that’s all it is. 1894, Mark Twain, chapter 11, in Tom Sawyer Abroad, New York: Charles L. Webster & Co, page 174:
   • But his grandson Francis, a Yorkist friend of Richard III, backed the wrong side in the Wars of the Roses and was declared a traitor by Henry VII, who confiscated his estates. 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 286:
   • They took photographs of the bodies, but these were confiscated on return to Baghdad, and orders were given that nothing was to be said of what they had seen. 1937, Robert Byron, The Road to Oxiana, London: Macmillan, Part 2, p. 46:
   • Why, your cavalier is a rebel—an exile, whose property is confiscated, and for whose neck the gibbet stands prepared! 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter I, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, pages 241-242:

Forms

Deriveds

unconfiscated · confiscatable · confiscator · reconfiscate

Relateds

fiscal

Synonyms

appropriate (take possession of or lay claim to) · arrogate (take possession of or lay claim to) · commandeer (take possession of or lay claim to) · expropriate (take possession of or lay claim to) · rob (take possession of or lay claim to) · requisition (take possession of or lay claim to) · steal (take possession of or lay claim to) · usurp (take possession of or lay claim to)

Translations (79)

es confiscar (take possession of by authority) · is gera upptækan (take possession of by authority) · nl confisqueren (take possession of by authority) · io konfiskar (take possession of by authority) · ro confisca (take possession of by authority) · th ริบ (take possession of by authority) · nb konfiskere (take possession of by authority) · ca confiscar (take possession of by authority) · eo konfiski (take possession of by authority) · fo leggja hald á (take possession of by authority) · uk відібра́ти (take possession of by authority) · hu kisajátít (take possession of by authority) · uk відбира́ти (take possession of by authority) · pl konfiskować (take possession of by authority) · th ยึด (take possession of by authority) · ta பறிமுதல் செய் (take possession of by authority) · it confiscare (take possession of by authority) · ur قبضے میں لینا (take possession of by authority) · lb beschlagnahmen (take possession of by authority) · uk конфіскува́ти (take possession of by authority) · ga gabh seilbh ar (take possession of by authority) · ko 몰수하다 (take possession of by authority) · hu lefoglal (take possession of by authority) · cmn 充公 (take possession of by authority) · he החרים (take possession of by authority) · sl zasegati (take possession of by authority) · gl confiscar (take possession of by authority) · el κατάσχω (take possession of by authority) · nrf confistchi (take possession of by authority) · vi tịch thu (take possession of by authority) · da konfiskere (take possession of by authority) · ga coigistigh (take possession of by authority) · cs zabavit (take possession of by authority) · hy առգրավել (take possession of by authority) · vi tịch thâu (take possession of by authority) · tr el koymak (take possession of by authority) · fr confisquer (take possession of by authority) · la auferō (take possession of by authority) · ka კონფისკაცია (take possession of by authority) · hu elkoboz (take possession of by authority) · ja 没収する (take possession of by authority) · ru изыма́ть (take possession of by authority) · la cōnfiscō (take possession of by authority) · ta பிடுங்கு (take possession of by authority) · pt confiscar (take possession of by authority) · de beschlagnahmen (take possession of by authority) · fa ضبط کردن (take possession of by authority) · sv konfiskera (take possession of by authority) · hy բռնագրավել (take possession of by authority) · ta பறிமுதல் பண்ணு (take possession of by authority) · km ដកហូតយក (take possession of by authority) · sl zaseči (take possession of by authority) · my သိမ်းပိုက် (take possession of by authority) · az müsadirə etmək (take possession of by authority) · es incautar (take possession of by authority) · cmn 沒收 /没收 (take possession of by authority) · be забра́ць (take possession of by authority) · fi takavarikoida (take possession of by authority) · nb inndra (take possession of by authority) · uk ви́лучити (take possession of by authority) · hi ज़ब्त करना (take possession of by authority) · la pūblicō (take possession of by authority) · sk zhabať (take possession of by authority) · ca comissar (take possession of by authority) · ar صَادَرَ (take possession of by authority) · be канфіскава́ць (take possession of by authority) · grc δημεύω (take possession of by authority) · id menyita (take possession of by authority) · be забіра́ць (take possession of by authority) · te జప్తు చేయు (take possession of by authority) · ru изъя́ть (take possession of by authority) · kmr dest danîn ser (take possession of by authority) · bg конфискувам (take possession of by authority) · fo taka frá (take possession of by authority) · uk вилуча́ти (take possession of by authority) · de konfiszieren (take possession of by authority) · es decomisar (take possession of by authority) · ru конфискова́ть (take possession of by authority) · fo draga inn (take possession of by authority)