own

A1
US /ɑːn/ UK /əʊn/
verb adj Freq #231

Meanings

  1. 1
    verb

    have ownership or possession of

    We own three houses in Florida and one in Toronto.

  2. 2
    adj

    Belonging to; possessed; acquired; proper to; property of; titled to; held in one's name; under/using the name of. Often marks a possessive determiner as reflexive, referring back to the subject of the clause or sentence.

    The fathers shall not bee put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: euery man shall be put to death for his owne sinne.

  3. 3
    adj

    Not shared.

    When we move into the new house, the kids will each have their own bedroom.

  4. 4
    verb

    To have rightful possession of (property, goods or capital); to have legal title to; to acquire a property or asset.

    I own this car.

  5. 5
    verb

    To have recognized political sovereignty over a place, territory, as distinct from the ordinary connotation of property ownership.

    The United States owns Point Roberts by the terms of the Treaty of Oregon.

  6. 6
    verb

    To defeat or embarrass; to overwhelm.

    I will own my enemies.

  7. 7
    verb

    To illicitly obtain administrative access to a computer system, thereby having full access to all the files thereon (including executables).

    "TH15 5Y5T3M 15 0WN3D"

  8. 8
    verb

    To admit, concede, grant, allow; not to deny.

    I own thy speechless, placeless power; but to the last gasp of my earthquake life will dispute its unconditional, unintegral mastery in me.

Etymology

From Middle English aȝen, owen, from Old English āgen (“own, proper, peculiar”), originally the past participle of āgan; from Proto-West Germanic *aigan (“own”), from Proto-Germanic *aiganaz (“own”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyḱ- (“to have, possess”). Cognates Cognate with Scots ain, awin, awn, ayn (“own”), Saterland Frisian oain (“own”), West Frisian, Dutch, and German eigen (“own”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Swedish egen (“own”), Faroese egin (“own”), Icelandic eigin, eiginn (“own”), Norwegian Nynorsk eigen (“own”); also Ossetian исын (isyn, “to take”), Tocharian A and Tocharian B aik…

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Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 verb · have ownership or... have
4 verb · to have rightful possession... acquirehave to one's nameproperty oftitle toto possess
7 verb · to illicitly obtain... 0wnpwn
Opposites
disown
Word family
Derived forms choose-your-own-adventureco-owndisownmind-your-own-businessmisownown-accountownabilityownableownageowndomownerownness

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