deprive

verb

USdi-PRYV/dɪˈpɹaɪv/

3 meanings of deprive

1
verbtransitive
To take something away from someone and keep it from them, or to deny someone something.
Critics argued the policy would deprive low-income families of basic healthcare.
The drought deprived the region of its main water source for months.
Similarbereave, shear
Oppositeprovide, supply, grant, endow
Note
The everyday sense, and the one that fixes the verb's grammar: the person deprived comes first, and the thing lost follows of. L. Frank Baum's Glinda will not "deprive the people of so wonderful a ruler." The passive keeps the of too: "we'd be deprived of philosophy." The verb reached English through Middle English depryven and Old French depriver, from Latin dē- plus prīvō.
2
verbtransitive
To take a loved one from someone, especially through death.
Tragedy can deprive parents of a beloved child in an instant.
The shipwreck deprived the village of nearly all its young men.
Similarrob, bereave
3
verbtransitive
To formally remove a member of the clergy from their office or position in the church.
Church authorities moved to deprive the rector following his conviction.
The synod deprived two clergymen found guilty of misconduct.
Similardefrock, unfrock, depose, remove, oust
Oppositeinstall, appoint, ordain
Note
Church usage gives the verb a narrower job, and one with no of at all. The object is the cleric, and what he loses, his office, goes unsaid: the synod deprived the rector. Compare the everyday "take away" sense, where the thing taken must be named after of. Here the loss is built into the verb, so naming it would be redundant.

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English depryven, borrowed via Old French depriver and Medieval Latin dēprīvō, from Latin dē- combined with prīvō.