Added 9 October 2026
own
/əʊn/ adjective
In Latin: proprius Wiktionary
adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about own at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- Belonging to; possessed; acquired and designated by; 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.
-
Not shared.
When we move into the new house, the kids will each have their own bedroom.
- Peculiar, domestic.
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.
-
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.
-
To defeat or embarrass; to overwhelm.
I will own my enemies.
noun
Origin
From Middle English oun, 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”). Doublet of eigen-. 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- (“to know, recognize”), Sanskrit ईश (īśa, “owning, possessing”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)