Definitions for possession
pəˈzɛʃ ənpos·ses·sion

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:3.8 / 6 votes

1. possession, ownershipnoun

   the act of having and controlling property

2. possessionnoun

   anything owned or possessed

3. possessionnoun

   being controlled by passion or the supernatural

4. monomania, possessionnoun

   a mania restricted to one thing or idea

5. possessionnoun

   a territory that is controlled by a ruling state

6. self-control, self-possession, possession, willpower, will power, self-command, self-willnoun

   the trait of resolutely controlling your own behavior

7. possessionnoun

   (sport) the act of controlling the ball (or puck)

   "they took possession of the ball on their own goal line"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. possessionnoun

   Something that someone possesses, but to which he does not necessarily have private property rights.

2. possessionnoun

   Control or occupancy of something for which one does not necessarily have private property rights.

3. possessionnoun

   Something that is owned.

   The car quickly became his most prized possession.

4. possessionnoun

   Ownership; taking, holding, keeping something as one's own.

   The car is in my possession.

5. possessionnoun

   A territory under the rule of another country.

   Réunion is the largest of France's overseas possessions.

6. possessionnoun

   The condition or affliction of being possessed by a demon or other supernatural entity.

   Back then, people with psychiatric disorders were sometimes thought to be victims of demonic possession.

7. possessionnoun

   The condition of being under the control of strong emotion or madness.

8. possessionnoun

   Control of the ball; the opportunity to be on the offensive.

   The scoreboard shows a little football symbol next to the name of the team that has possession.

9. possessionnoun

   A disposal of the ball during a game, i.e. a kick or a handball.

   Defender Colin O'Riordan had 41 possessions in the NEAFL last week to continue his outstanding form, while Ryan Clarke had 47 in the Swans' big loss to Brisbane.

10. possessionnoun

    A syntactic relationship between two nouns or nominals that may be used to indicate ownership.

    Some languages distinguish between a construction like 'my car', which shows alienable possession — the car could become someone else's — and one like 'my foot', which has inalienable possession — my foot will always be mine.

11. Etymology: From possessio (Gen: possessionis)

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Possessionnoun

   Etymology: possession, Fr. possessio, Lat.

   1. The state of owning or having in one’s own hands or power; property.

   He shall inherit her, and his generation shall hold her in possession. Ecclus. iv. 16.

   In possession such, not only of right,
   I call you. John Milton.

   2. The thing possessed.

   Do nothing to lose the best possession of life, that of honour and truth. William Temple.

   A man has no right over another’s life, by his having a property in land and possessions. John Locke.

2. To Possessionverb

   To invest with property. Obsolete.

   Sundry more gentlemen this little hundred possesseth and possessioneth. Carew.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:1.0 / 1 vote

1. Possessionnoun

   the act or state of possessing, or holding as one's own

2. Possessionnoun

   the having, holding, or detention of property in one's power or command; actual seizin or occupancy; ownership, whether rightful or wrongful

3. Possessionnoun

   the thing possessed; that which any one occupies, owns, or controls; in the plural, property in the aggregate; wealth; dominion; as, foreign possessions

4. Possessionnoun

   the state of being possessed or controlled, as by an evil spirit, or violent passions; madness; frenzy; as, demoniacal possession

5. Possessionverb

   to invest with property

6. Etymology: [F. possession, L. possessio.]

FreebaseRate this definition:3.5 / 2 votes

1. Possession

   In law, possession is the control a person intentionally exercises toward a thing. In all cases, to possess something, a person must have an intention to possess it. A person may be in possession of some property. Like ownership, the possession of things is commonly regulated by states under property law.

Military Dictionary and GazetteerRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. possession

   To take possession, is the act of occupying any post, camp, fortress, etc., which might facilitate the operations of an army, or which previously belonged to the enemy.

Matched Categories

1. • Control
   • District
   • Enchantment
   • Mania
   • Resoluteness
   • Sport

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'possession' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3364

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'possession' in Nouns Frequency: #1180

How to pronounce possession?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say possession in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of possession in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of possession in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of possession in a Sentence

1. Thomas Bailey:

   The possession of unlimited power will make a despot of almost any man. There is a possible Nero in the gentlest human creature that walks.

2. Ahmed Shaheed:

   A large percentage of those executions are for drug offences and under Iran's current drug laws, possession of 30 grams of heroine or cocaine would qualify for the death penalty. So there's a number of draconian laws.

3. Sigmund Freud, Letter to Carl Jung, January 17, 1909:

   We are certainly getting ahead; if I am Moses, then you are Joshua and will take possession of the promised land of psychiatry, which I shall only be able to glimpse from afar.

4. The NRA:

   With due respect, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's' proposals' would resurrect the same broken, Bloomberg-funded failures that were attempted under the Obama administration, like most political gambits, Lt. Gov. Patrick's' solution' precedes Dan Patrick possession of the facts, including this critical concession by the Obama administration : Criminalizing private firearm transfers would require a massive, governmental gun registration scheme.

5. Edoardo Siani:

   Buddhist kings show possession of white elephants as a proof of their legitimacy, legitimate kings effortlessly attract white elephants from all corners of the kingdom. These elephants willingly submit to the authority of kings out of recognition of their moral strength.

Popularity rank by frequency of use