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ar·ro·gate (ărə-gāt)
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tr.v. ar·ro·gat·ed, ar·ro·gat·ing, ar·ro·gates
1. To take or claim for oneself without right; appropriate: "That's how my cousin came to don the hand-tailored suits and to arrogate to himself the glamorous responsibility for ushering to their tables big-name customers" (Philip Roth). See Synonyms at appropriate.
2. To ascribe on behalf of another in an unwarranted manner: "The Platt Amendment of 1901 arrogated to the United States the right to intervene in Cuba in case of threats to its independence or American lives or property" (Walter McDougall).

[Latin arrogāre, arrogāt- : ad-, ad- + rogāre, to ask; see reg- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

arro·gation n.
arro·gative adj.
arro·gator n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.