purpresture means the unlawful personal appropriation of public lands; wrongful encroachment on, or enclosure of properties belonging to the public (e.g. highways, sidewalks, forests, harbors). Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “purpresture” is a great word
Purpresture is the illegal enclosure or usurpation of a public right-of-way or resource. From Middle English purpresture, from Anglo-Norman purpresture, an alteration of Old French porpresure ("enclosure, occupied space"), from porprendre ("to seize, occupy, enclose"), from por- ("for") + prendre ("to take"), from Latin prehendere ("to seize"). First attested c. 1150–1200. Unlike "encroachment," a broad term for any overstepping of bounds, or "trespass," an intrusion upon private land, purpresture is the specific, quiet theft of the commons. It is the merchant's stall that gradually claims the cobbles, the jetty built to monopolize the shore, or the fence that inch by inch annexes the village green—a slow, structural theft that turns what belongs to all into the possession of one, a permanent shadow cast upon the public square.
Etymology
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.
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).