Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Possess

Pos-sess′

(?; 277)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Possessed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Possessing
.]
[L.
possessus
, p. p. of
possidere
to have, possess, from an inseparable prep. (cf.
Position
) +
sedere
to sit. See
Sit
.]
1.
To occupy in person; to hold or actually have in one’s own keeping; to have and to hold.
Houses and fields and vineyards shall be
possessed
again in this land.
Jer. xxxii. 15.
Yet beauty, though injurious, hath strange power,
After offense returning, to regain
Love once
possessed
.
Milton.
2.
To have the legal title to; to have a just right to; to be master of; to own; to have;
as, to
possess
property, an estate, a book
.
I am yours, and all that I
possess
.
Shakespeare
3.
To obtain occupation or possession of; to accomplish; to gain; to seize.
How . . . to
possess
the purpose they desired.
Spenser.
4.
To enter into and influence; to control the will of; to fill; to affect; – said especially of evil spirits, passions, etc.
“Weakness possesseth me.”
Shak.
Those which were
possessed
with devils.
Matt. iv. 24.
For ten inspired, ten thousand are
possessed
.
Roscommon.
5.
To put in possession; to make the owner or holder of property, power, knowledge, etc.; to acquaint; to inform; – followed by of or with before the thing possessed, and now commonly used reflexively.
I have
possessed
your grace of what I purpose.
Shakespeare
Record a gift . . . of all he dies
possessed

Unto his son.
Shakespeare
We
possessed
our selves of the kingdom of Naples.
Addison.
To
possess
our minds with an habitual good intention.
Addison.
Syn. – To have; hold; occupy; control; own.
–
Possess
,
Have
. Have is the more general word. To possess denotes to have as a property. It usually implies more permanence or definiteness of control or ownership than is involved in having. A man does not possess his wife and children: they are (so to speak) part of himself. For the same reason, we have the faculties of reason, understanding, will, sound judgment, etc.: they are exercises of the mind, not possessions.

Webster 1828 Edition

Possess

POSSESS'

,
Verb.
T.
[L. possessus, possideo, a compound of po, a Russian preposition, perhaps by, and sedeo, to sit; to sit in or on.
1.
To have the just and legal title, ownership or property of a thing; to own; to hold the title of, as the rightful proprietor, or to hold both the title and the thing. A man may possess the farm which he cultivates,or he may possess an estate in a foreign country, not in his own occupation. He may possess many farms which are occupied by tenants. In this as in other cases, the original sense of the word is enlarged, the holding or tenure being applied to the title or right, as well as to the thing itself.
2.
To hold; to occupy without title or ownership.
I raise up the Chaldeans, to possess the dwelling-places that are not theirs. Hab.1.
Neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own. Acts.4.
3.
To have; to occupy. The love of the world usually possesses the heart.
4.
To seize; to gain; to obtain the occupation of.
The English marched towards the river Eske, intending to possess a hill called Under-Eske.
5.
To have power over; as an invisible agent or spirit.
Luke 8.
Beware what spirit rages in your breast;
For ten inspired, ten thousand are possess'd.
6.
To affect by some power.
Let not your ears despise my tongue,
Which shall possess them with the heaviest sound
That ever yet they heard.
To possess of, or with, more properly to possess of, is to give possession, command or occupancy.
Of fortune's favor long possess'd
This possesses us of the most valuable blessing of human life, friendship.
To possess one's self of, to take or gain possession or command; to make one's self master of.
We possessed ourselves of the kingdom of Naples.
To possess with, to furnish or fill with something permanent; or to be retained.
It is of unspeakable advantage to possess our minds with an habitual good intention.
If they are possessed with honest minds.

Definition 2024

possess

possess

English

Verb

possess ‎(third-person singular simple present possesses, present participle possessing, simple past and past participle possessed)

  1. (transitive) To have; to have ownership of.
    He does not even possess a working telephone.‎
    • 1818, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Volume 3, Chapter 7:
      [...], the companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds, which hardly any later friend can obtain.
    • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:
      He read the letter aloud. Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement.
  2. (transitive) To take control of someone's body or mind, especially in a supernatural manner.
    They thought he was possessed by evil spirits.‎
  3. (transitive, dated, chiefly with of) To vest ownership in (someone); to give someone power or knowledge; to acquaint; to inform.

Synonyms

  • ((with of), to vest ownership): seise
  • (qualities or characteristics): inhold

Translations

to take control of someone's body or mind

Etymology

From Middle French possesser ‎(“to possess”), from Latin possessus, past participle of possīdeō.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pəˈzɛs/
  • Rhymes: -ɛs

Similar Results