də̇ˈprīv, dēˈ- transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English depriven, from Medieval Latin deprivare, from Latin de- + privare to deprive — more at private
1. obsolete : to take away : remove , destroy
'tis honor to deprive dishonored life — Shakespeare
2.
a. : to take something away from : divest , bereave
last year's farm law that deprives farmers of soil conservation payments — Wall Street Journal
the proposed boundary settlement would permanently deprive that country of Silesia and East Prussia — Marshall Knappen
b. : to take an office, dignity, or benefice from : remove from office
the Archbishop, accused of incontinence, would be deprived and sent to the Tower — Edith Sitwell
3. : to keep from the possession, enjoyment, or use of something
threatened to deprive American citizens of rights guaranteed them under the federal constitution — F.L.Mott
Synonyms:
deprive , dispossess , disinherit , and bereave can mean, in common, to prevent one from possessing. deprive , the most comprehensive of these words, usually implies a taking away of what one has, owns, or has a right to
to deprive a person of a week's wages
I had deprived myself of rest and health — Mary W. Shelley
the feeling that the system under which we live deprives the majority of the chance of a decent life — C.D.Lewis
dispossess usually applies to a removing or dislodging of a person in usually illegitimate possession, less often implies a depriving of possessions, sometimes implies a deprivation of rights, qualities, or properties
the family was dispossessed of their apartment and their furniture piled in the street
he would at least try to dispossess her of the pistol — E.M.Lustgarten
an attempt to dispossess nonproperty owners of voting rights
disinherit suggests an heir being deprived of the right to inherit an estate; in extension it often implies a robbing or divesting of a right, prerogative, or privilege, especially acquired by birth
disinherited by an angry father on his deathbed
disinherited of all rights to citizenship or a decent livelihood
bereave means to deprive of something as by robbery, stripping, or seizing, usually implying suddenness or surprise and now tending to occur in the form bereaved when loss by death is implied, in the form bereft when such things as hope, peace, friends, or intelligence are implied
bereaved of both her parents and without a home of her own — Gabrielle Long
the comedians full of jokes and bereft of humor — Bernard Kalb
bereft of all hope of recovery
to feel extremely bereaved after the death of a loved one