Arrogate

WORD OF THE DAY

arrogate / verb / AIR-uh-gay

Definition
1a: to claim or seize without justification
1b: to make undue claims to having
1c: assume
2a: to claim on behalf of another
2b: ascribe

Examples
"Teenage girls rule in the tart but sweet new Broadway musical Mean Girls. But their system of high-school government is far from a democracy: It's a reign of terror, angst and mall fashions, where popularity is arrogated and then ruthlessly enforced."
— Adam Feldman, TimeOut New York, 8 Apr. 2018

The Chinese Communist Party, bizarrely, arrogates to itself the right to approve his successor.
— The Economist, 11 Dec. 2019

Did You Know?
Arrogate comes from Latin arrogatus, a past participle of the verb arrogare, which means "to appropriate to one's self."
The Latin verb, in turn, was formed from the prefix ad- ("to" or "toward") and the verb rogare ("to ask").
You may have noticed that arrogate is similar to the more familiar arrogant.
And there is, in fact, a relationship between the two words. Arrogant comes from Latin arrogant- or arrogans, the present participle of arrogare.
Arrogant is often applied to that sense of superiority which comes from someone claiming (or arrogating) more consideration than is due to that person's position, dignity, or power.