expropriate
/ɛksˈpɹəʊpɹi.eɪt/verb
expropriate is spelled E-X-P-R-O-P-R-I-A-T-E: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 84,254th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, expropriate means “To deprive a person of (their private property) for public use” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in expropriate?
| Letters | 11: E-X-P-R-O-P-R-I-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 8 million words; the 84,254th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is expropriate?
Expropriate appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 84,254th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce expropriate?
- /ɛksˈpɹəʊpɹi.eɪt/
Expropriate has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-expropriate.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of expropriate
- expropriates present, singular, he/she/it
- expropriating participle, present
- expropriated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does expropriate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To deprive a person of (their private property) for public use.
- 2
To surrender a claim to private property without material compensation; to deprive oneself of private propriety rights.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Expropriate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to deprive a person of their property:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | exproprier |
| German | enteignen |
| Portuguese | expropriar, desapropriar |
| Spanish | expropiar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does expropriate come from?
From Medieval Latin expropriātus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).