confiscate

[kon-fuh-skeyt, kuhn-fis-kit]

verb (used with object)

confiscated, confiscating 

1. to seize as forfeited to the public domain; appropriate, by way of penalty, for public use.

2. to seize by or as if by authority; appropriate summarily.

   The border guards confiscated our movie cameras.

adjective

1. seized or appropriated, as for public use.

confiscate

/ ˈkɒnfɪˌskeɪt /

verb

1. to seize (property), esp for public use and esp by way of a penalty

adjective

1. seized or confiscated; forfeit

2. having lost or been deprived of property through confiscation

Other Word Forms

• confiscation noun
• confiscator noun
• confiscatable adjective
• reconfiscate verb (used with object)
• unconfiscated adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of confiscate¹

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin confiscātus “seized,” past participle of confiscāre “to seize for the public treasury,” equivalent to con- con- + fisc(us) “basket, moneybag, public treasury” ( fiscal ) + -āre, verb infinitive suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of confiscate¹

C16: from Latin confiscāre to seize for the public treasury, from fiscus basket, treasury

Example Sentences

Authorities confiscated devices, including laptops and smartphones thought to be operating the site, cash and several credit cards.

From Los Angeles Times

He was remanded to Feltham Young Offenders Institution, where, in March, officers found and confiscated a homemade weapon.

From BBC

Officers said they stopped a vehicle, thought to have been involved, shortly afterwards in Colwick Loop Road and confiscated a drone found in the boot.

From BBC

Though the group remained resolutely neutral during the civil war, after Assad fled, gunmen affiliated with the new authorities confiscated the group’s weaponry and training camps.

From Los Angeles Times

They also searched the pair and their phones, and confiscated their other belongings before placing them on buses with dozens of other arrested protesters.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• appropriate 
• expropriate 
• impound