Other forms: usurpers
A usurper is somebody who seizes a throne they had no right to. Denounce the usurper, the usurper was crowned, an usurper's claim.
Whether somebody is called one depends entirely on who won and who wrote afterwards — a successful usurper founds a dynasty and an unsuccessful one is a rebel. Richard III is the standing English example. Note usurp; and that the Latin means to take into use.
1nounusurperSomebody who seizes a throne they had no right to.
“The rightful heir returned from exile and drove the usurper from the throne.”
usurper is a seizer of power.
Middle French usurpeur comes from usurper, from Latin usurpare, to take into use. Use and rapid come from the two halves.
Middle French
usurpeur
Middle English
usurper
English, today
usurper
From Middle English usurper, usurpour, usurpur, from Middle French usurpeur; equivalent to usurp + -er.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA