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.

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, with of) To vest ownership in (someone) with ownership.

Synonyms

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

Adverbs for Possess

legally; intellectually; incontestably; legitimately; intrinsically; originally; potentially; proudly; territorially; undisputedly; conclusively; hereditarily; tranquilly; hazardously; uniquely; enduringly; formally; nominally.

Thesaurus

achieve, acquire, appreciate, apprehend, be acquainted with, be apprised of, be aware of, be cognizant of, be conscious of, be conversant with, be enfeoffed of, be informed, be possessed of, be seized of, bear, bedevil, beset, bewitch, boast, captivate, carry, catch up, charm, claim, clap hands on, clasp, claw, clench, clinch, clutch, cognize, come by, come into, command, compel, comprehend, conceive, conceptualize, consume, contain, control, demonize, devilize, diabolize, discern, dominate, drain off, draw off, drive, embody, embrace, enchant, enjoy, fathom, fill, gain, get, get hold of, glom on to, govern, grab, grab hold of, grapple, grasp, grip, gripe, hant, haunt, have, have and hold, have in hand, have information about, have knowledge of, have tenure of, hex, hold, hoodoo, hug, impel, include, infatuate, jinx, ken, know, lay hands on, lay hold of, loot, make out, nail, nip, nip up, not let go, obsess, obtain, occupy, overlook, own, palm, partake, perceive, pillage, pocket, prehend, preoccupy, procure, realize, receive, recognize, retain, savvy, secure, see, seize, snap up, snatch, spook, squat, squat on, steal, take, take by assault, take by storm, take hold of, take possession, take possession of, understand, usucapt, voodoo, whip up, win, witch, wot, wot of

Etymology

• From Latin possessus, past participle of possīdeō.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

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Translations

to have; to have ownership of

Arabic: ملك (ar) (málaka), امتلك (ar) (imtálaka), تملك (ar) (tamállaka) Chinese: Mandarin: 抱有 (cmn) (bàoyǒu), 具有 (zh) (jùyǒu), 所有 (zh) (suǒyǒu), 具備 (zh), 具备 (zh) (jùbèi) Czech: vlastnit (cs) Danish: besidde (da), eje (da) Esperanto: posedi (eo) (own); havi (eo) (have) Finnish: omistaa (fi) French: posséder (fr) German: besitzen (de)

Hungarian: bír (hu), birtokol (hu), van (hu) Japanese: 所持する (ja) (しょじする, shoji suru); 所有する (ja) (しょゆうする, shoyū suru), 占有する (ja) (せんゆうする, senyū suru) Latin: habeo (la), possideo (la) Norwegian: inneha (no) Polish: posiadać (pl) Portuguese: possuir (pt) Russian: обладать (ru) (obladát’) impf., владеть (ru) (vladét’) impf., иметь (ru) (imét’) Spanish: poseer (es) Turkish: sahip olmak (tr)

to take control of someone's body or mind

Danish: besætte (da) Finnish: ottaa valtaansa (fi) French: posséder (fr), s'emparer de (fr): to get a hold of German: besessen (de) sein

Hungarian: hatalmába kerít (hu) Japanese: 支配する (ja) (しはいする, shihai suru), 取り憑く (ja) (とりつく, toritsuku) Polish: opętać (pl) Spanish: poseer (es)

The translations below need to be checked.

Translations to be checked

Arabic: ملك (málaka) Bulgarian: притежавам (pritežavam) Mandarin: 拥有 (yōngyǒu) Dutch: bezitten (nl)

Italian: possedere Korean: 가지다 (gajida) Norwegian: inneha Portuguese: possuir Swedish: äga