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suitable or fitting for a particular purpose, person, occasion, etc.:
an appropriate example; an appropriate dress.
belonging to or peculiar to a person; proper:
each played his appropriate part.
to set apart, authorize, or legislate for some specific purpose or use:
the legislature appropriated funds for the university.
to take to or for oneself; take possession of.
to take without permission or consent; seize; expropriate:
he appropriated the trust funds for himself.
to steal, especially to commit petty theft.
contemporary examples

what happens when the soviet union appropriates one of the most beloved characters in children’s literature?
viral video of the day: russian winnie-the-pooh ben teitelbaum april 16, 2014

detractors have always said apple invents little and appropriates a lot.
don’t bet against apple zachary karabell august 24, 2011

historical examples

congress annually appropriates large sums of money for the building of roads in the national forests.
the school book of forestry charles lathrop pack

he remains original, even while he appropriates the words and thoughts of another.
the expositor’s bible: alfred plummer

the clay vessel is an intruder, and usurps the place and appropriates the dress of its predecessor in wicker.
origin and development of form and ornament in ceramic art. william henry holmes

he appropriates ritualism for religion and it becomes his doctrine.
is the devil a myth? c. f. wimberly

faith is as a hand which appropriates the forgiveness of sins and receives it as an unmerited gift of divine grace.
the little treasure of prayers anonymous

it accommodates its praises, or its censure, to the excellence of a work, and appropriates it to the nature of it.
essays on various subjects hannah more

faith only lays hold of and appropriates what is already purchased and paid for.
the way of salvation in the lutheran church g. h. gerberding

prig, a conceited, stuck-up, over-knowing person; one who appropriates or adopts a manner or costume not suited to him.
the slang dictionary john camden hotten

adjective (əˈprəʊprɪɪt)
right or suitable; fitting
(rare) particular; own: they had their appropriate methods
verb (transitive) (əˈprəʊprɪˌeɪt)
to take for one’s own use, esp illegally or without permission
to put aside (funds, etc) for a particular purpose or person
v.

early 15c., “take possession of,” from late latin appropriatus, past participle of appropriare, adpropriare (c.450) “to make one’s own,” from latin ad- “to” (see ad-) + propriare “take as one’s own,” from proprius “one’s own” (see proper). related: appropriated; appropriating.
adj.

“specially suitable, proper,” early 15c., from latin appropriatus, past participle of appropriare (see appropriate (v.)). related: appropriately; appropriateness.

verb

liberate (wwi army)