own English · revision 1846

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 725|origins=ine-pro *aik-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /əʊn/ ''(UK)''; /oʊn/ ''(US)''^(Roach et al. 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The adjective is [[inh|enm|owen]],^(AHD)^(Etymonline) [[inh|ang|āgen|t=own, literally possessed]],^(Etymonline)^(COED 2004) the past participle of [[m|ang|āgan|t=to have, possess]] (see [[owe]]),^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*aiganaz|t=possessed, owned]],^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*aik-|t=to be master of, possess]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) Cognates include [[nl|eigen]], [[de|eigen]] and [[non|eiginn]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) The verb is [[inh|enm|ounen]], [[m|enm|ahnen]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) [[inh|ang|āgnian|t=to take possession of; to possess]], from the adjective;^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(Klein 1966) it fell out of use about 1300 and was revived in the early 17th century, partly as a [[back-formation]] from ''[[owner]]''.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Belonging to oneself; used after a possessive for emphasis (Old English ''āgen'', before 725; the emphatic use after a possessive from late Old English).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English ''mine own'' was also divided as ''my nown'', which survives in Scots ''nainsell'', “own self”.^(Weekley 1921) From the 14th century ''own'' could express tenderness, as in ''my own'',^(OED 1989)^(HTOED) and ''to be one's own man'' dates from about 1374.^(OED 1989) ''To hold one's own'' is by the 1520s in Etymonline, the 14th century in Weekley.^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921) The old verb ''āgnian'' meant “to take possession of; to possess”;^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989) it dropped out of use about 1300, and was restored when the verb ''owe'' was losing its original sense “to possess”, first in Shakespeare's ''Coriolanus'' (1607).^(Barnhart 1988) The sense “to acknowledge, admit”, especially of something to one's discredit, is from about 1300 in Etymonline, the 17th century in Hoad;^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Weekley explains that confessing grew out of acknowledging possession and the responsibility it brought.^(Weekley 1921) ''To own up'' dates from 1853,^(Etymonline) and ''own goal'' from 1947.^(OED 1989) In American slang, ''own'' has meant “to dominate, defeat” since the early 20th century, an image that Green's Dictionary links to slavery.^(GDoS)^(Dalzell 2013) In South Africa, translating [[m|af|eie]], ''own'' described what belonged exclusively to one ethnic group, as in the ''own affairs'' laws of apartheid.^(DSAE)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 725 – Old English ''āgen''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 725 – Old English verb ''geāgnian''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1150 – ''owen''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1300 – the old verb falls out of use; to acknowledge.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1340 – ''oghener'', owner.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1607 – the verb revived, in Shakespeare's ''Coriolanus''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1853 – ''own up''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1947 – ''own goal''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Belonging to oneself or itself, used after a possessive for emphasis: ''her own clothes''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Done or produced by oneself: ''cooked his own dinner''.^(COED 2004)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Related by blood: ''an own brother''.^(MW Collegiate)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # That which belongs to one: ''a room of my own'', and in ''on one's own'', alone or independently.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To have or hold as [[property]]; to [[possess]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Black's Law 2004)

+ # To have control or mastery over.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(formal)'' To admit or [[acknowledge]]: ''own a fault''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(COED 2004)

+ # ''(own up)'' To confess fully.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # ''(slang)'' To defeat or dominate utterly.^(GDoS)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[owner]]

+ * [[co-own]]

+ * [[disown]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[owe]]

+ * [[ought]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}