purpresture

P3U1R1P3R1E1S1T1U1R1E1

noun

The unlawful personal appropriation of public lands; wrongful encroachment on, or enclosure of properties belonging to the public (e.g. highways, sidewalks, forests, harbors).

OriginMiddle English purpresture ← Anglo-Norman purpresture ← Old French porpresure →
Scrabble 15
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounpurpresture (countable and uncountable, plural purprestures)

plural purprestures · alternative pourpresture

  1. countablehistoricaluncountableThe unlawful personal appropriation of public lands; wrongful encroachment on, or enclosure of properties belonging to the public (e.g. highways, sidewalks, forests, harbors).

Origin

  1. Latinprehendere
  2. Old Frenchporpresure“enclosure, occupied space”
  3. Anglo-Normanpurpresture
  4. Middle Englishpurpresture
  5. Englishpurpresture

From 1150–1200, Middle English purpresture, from Anglo-Norman purpresture; alteration of Old French porpresure (“enclosure, occupied space”), from porprendre (“to seize, occupy, enclose”), from por- (“for”) + prendre (“to take”); from Latin prehendere.

More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

purpresture. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/purpresture

MLA

“purpresture.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/purpresture. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “purpresture,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/purpresture.

Source: purpresture on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.