possedere

Forms

possedere (first-person singular present possièdo or possiédo or possèggo or posséggo, first-person singular past historic possedétti or (traditional) possedètti or possedéi, past participle possedùto, first-person singular future (now more common, especially in speech) possiederò or possederò, auxiliary avére)^[1] The present has possiedo or posseggo, like sedere.^[2][3][1] Old forms include posedere, possedire, possidere and prosedere.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin possidēre (“to occupy as owner, to possess”), a learned word according to DELI and Nocentini.^[5][6][7] Wiktionary treats it as inherited.^[1] Nocentini counts Old French posseoir and Spanish poseer as words handed down directly from Latin, and French posséder as learned like the Italian.^[6] Meyer-Lübke lists further outcomes such as Old Occitan posezir and Portuguese possuir.^[8]

The Latin verb is a compound of potis (“able; master”) and sedeō (“to sit; to reside”), first meaning “to occupy a place as its master”.^[5][9][6][4] Devoto notes the loss of the end of the first element and the change of /e/ to /i/ in the internal syllable.^[9] De Vaan derives potis from Proto-Indo-European *pót-i- (“master, lord”), also the source of Sanskrit पति (páti, “lord”), Ancient Greek πόσις (pósis, “husband”) and Lithuanian pàts.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Capuan placito, the sworn testimony about land ownership that GRADIT and Zingarelli date to 960;^{[7][11][5][6]} DELI and Nocentini print the date as 910.^{[7][11][5][6]} The sense there is “to hold as property, to have dominion over”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Devoto describes the verb as passing from landed property to other things.^[9] Iacopone da Todi (before 1306) uses it for “to dominate completely”, and Dante has it for wealth: che gran ricchezza posseder con vizio (“than to possess great riches with vice”).^[5][4] He also uses it for occupying a place: orrevol gente possedea quel loco (“honourable people held that place”).^[7][3]

Later the verb came to mean having qualities, mastering a language or an art, and, mostly in the passive, being overwhelmed by a passion or by the devil (posseduto dal demonio).^{[7][2][3][12]} Tommaseo quotes Segneri on the rich, who possess much and are much possessed by their goods.^[12] The learned derivatives came with it: possessore (1304–1308) and possessivo in Dante, possessione (c. 1350), possedimento (before 1347, and “estate, territory” from 1816) and possesso (before 1566).^[5][6]

Timeline

• 960 – The Capuan placito has the first recorded use.^[7][11]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses it for “to dominate completely”.^[5]
• 1304–1308 – Dante has the derivative possessore.^[5]
• Before 1347 – Possedimento is recorded in Bartolomeo da San Concordio.^[5]
• Before 1566 – Annibal Caro uses possesso.^[5]
• 1816 – Possedimento is used for landed estates and territories.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To own, to have as property: Mio nonno possedeva un uliveto vicino al mare.^{[7][2][13][1]}
2. (absolute) To be wealthy, to own property: La sua famiglia possiede da generazioni.^[7][2][3]
3. To rule, to hold sovereignty over a territory.^[7][2][3]
4. To have, to be endowed with (a quality): Possiede una pazienza straordinaria.^[7][2][13]
5. (figurative, often passive) Of a passion, to overwhelm, take hold of someone.^[7][2] Essere posseduto dal demonio is to be possessed by the devil.^[7][2][3]
6. (figurative) To master, know thoroughly: possedere bene il tedesco.^{[7][2][13][1]}
7. (literary) Of a man, to have sexual intercourse with a woman.^[7][2][11]
8. (literary) To occupy, inhabit a place.^[7][2][11]

Word family

• possedimento
• posseduto
• possessore
• possesso
• possessione
• possessivo
• impossessarsi
• spossessare

Related words

• sedere
• potere
• possidente
• Latin possideo

Usage notes

The present is possiedo or posseggo, and the future possiederò or possederò, the first now more common in speech.^[1][3] The present participle possedente is rare and usually replaced by possidente.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
4. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse