usurpatio

In late antique authors, the noun usurpatio , which in classical authors can mean both ‘use’ and ‘misappropriation and misuse’, initially maintains a neutral value, but tends to assume only a negative value. In this entry, the evolution of the meaning of this word and the reasons for the semantic shift are investigated. In the final part, the application of the word in specific fields (jurisprudence, grammar) is illustrated.