appropriation

Claiming without permission

Appropriation is the act of taking something for one's own use.

Governments appropriate funds by setting aside money for specific purposes: The appropriation for defense exceeded last year's budget.

In broader use, appropriation suggests taking without permission or right.

Cultural appropriation refers to adopting elements of another culture, especially when a dominant group borrows from a marginalized one: Critics called the headdress cultural appropriation.

In art, appropriation means incorporating existing images or objects into new work.

acquisition

seizure

Forcible taking or convulsion

annexation · usurpation · commandeering · impounding · dispossession · forfeiture · claiming · obtaining · procurement · arrogation

art

Duchamp

pastiche · collage · remix · bricolage · quotation · homage · parody · sampling · transformation · postmodernism

theft

stealing

Unlawful taking of property

misuse · exploitation · infringement · copying · unauthorized · copyright · trademark · looting · plundering · pillaging

cultural

misrepresentation

False or misleading statement

headdress · blackface · borrowing · commodification · insensitivity · erasure · disrespect · sacred · indigenous · marginalized

legislative

budget

Plan for spending

expenditure · funding · disbursement · fiscal · congressional · subsidy · grant · treasury · revenue · deficit

borrowing

loan

Borrowed money repaid later

  • lendingTemporary provision of resources
  • creditRecognition or payment deferral
  • debtMoney owed another

mortgage · collateral · repayment · interest · principal · borrower · lender · refinance · amortization · lease

Categories
Opposites
taking versus giving

appropriationgiving

Transferring to another

bestowal · donation · relinquishment · surrender · contribution

allocation versus withholding

appropriationrejection

Denial of acceptance

refusal · denial · withholding · curtailment · reduction

cultural taking versus respect

appropriationcultural exchange

Sharing practices between peoples

acknowledgment · attribution · honoring · preservation · cultural sensitivity

Phrases
Family

appropriating, misappropriation, appropriations, misappropriating, reappropriation

Familiarity
Top 200,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Everyday, not technical · Rated G