Definitions for possession
pəˈzɛʃ ənpos·ses·sion

Princeton's WordNet(4.00 / 4 votes)Rate this definition:

1. possession, ownership(noun)

   the act of having and controlling property

2. possession(noun)

   anything owned or possessed

3. possession(noun)

   being controlled by passion or the supernatural

4. monomania, possession(noun)

   a mania restricted to one thing or idea

5. possession(noun)

   a territory that is controlled by a ruling state

6. self-control, self-possession, possession, willpower, will power, self-command, self-will(noun)

   the trait of resolutely controlling your own behavior

7. possession(noun)

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

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

Wiktionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. possession(Noun)

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

2. possession(Noun)

   Something that is owned.

3. possession(Noun)

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

4. possession(Noun)

   A territory under the rule of another country.

   Ru00E9union is the largest of France's overseas possessions.

5. possession(Noun)

   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.

6. possession(Noun)

   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.

7. possession(Noun)

   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 u2014 the car could become someone else's u2014 and one like 'my foot', which has inalienable possession u2014 my foot will always be mine.

Origin: From possessio (Gen: possessionis)

Webster Dictionary(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Possession(noun)

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

2. Possession(noun)

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

3. Possession(noun)

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

4. Possession(noun)

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

5. Possession(verb)

   to invest with property

Origin: [F. possession, L. possessio.]

Freebase(3.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

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.

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

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

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. Colley Cibber:

   Possession is eleven points in the law.

2. Euripides:

   Man's best possession is a sympathetic wife.

3. Cicero:

   Freedom is a possession of inestimable value.

4. Allison Green:

   We’re just glad to have it back in our possession.

5. John Ruskin:

   Every increased possession loads us with new weariness.

Images & Illustrations of possession

Popularity rank by frequency of use