possession English · revision 5600

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1340|origins=la possidēre}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pəˈzeʃ.ən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English possessioun, [[bor|fro|possession]] and directly from [[la|possessiō|t=a seizing, possession]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) a noun of action from the past participle of [[m|la|possidēre|t=to possess]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) See [[possess]].^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The act or fact of holding or owning something, and a thing possessed: before 1340 in the OED, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The legal property sense is the earliest.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the plural, possessions are goods, lands or rights owned.^(Etymonline) In law, the power to exercise control over a thing is from 1535.^(OED 1989) Being controlled by evil spirits or madness is first recorded in the 1580s, although Old French possession already meant demonic possession.^(Etymonline) ''Possession is eleven points of the law'' is from the 1640s and ''nine points'' from the 1690s, out of a supposed 12 or 10.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A territory controlled by a foreign country is a later sense.^(AHD) In American slang possession means possession of drugs, from 1970.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1340 – the act of holding; property.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1535 – in law.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1580s – possession by spirits.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1640s – ''possession is eleven points of the law''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1970 – possession of drugs (US).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The fact of having or owning something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(often possessions)'' Something that a person owns; [[property]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A country or territory ruled by another country.^(AHD)

+ # The state of being controlled by an evil [[spirit]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(law)'' The crime of having illegal drugs or weapons.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[possessional]]

+ * [[possessionless]]

+ * [[nonpossession]]

+ * [[prepossession]]

+ * [[self-possession]]

+ * [[adverse possession]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[possess]]

+ * [[possessive]]

+ * [[possessor]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Derbyshire lead-mining, a possession was the right to a measured piece of ground for mining.^(Wright 1898)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}