OWN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does own mean? 

• OWN (adjective)
  The adjective OWN has 1 sense:

1. belonging to or on behalf of a specified person (especially yourself); preceded by a possessive

  Familiarity information: OWN used as an adjective is very rare.

• OWN (verb)
  The verb OWN has 1 sense:

1. have ownership or possession of

  Familiarity information: OWN used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OWN (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Belonging to or on behalf of a specified person (especially yourself); preceded by a possessive

Synonyms:

ain; own

Context example:

'ain' is Scottish

Similar:

personal (concerning or affecting a particular person or his or her private life and personality)

• OWN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they own    ... he / she / it owns   
Past simple: owned   
Past participle: owned   
-ing form: owning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Have ownership or possession of

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

have; own; possess

Context example:

How many cars does she have?

Verb group:

feature; have (have as a feature)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "own"):

prepossess (possess beforehand)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

owner ((law) someone who owns (is legal possessor of) a business)

owner (a person who owns something)

 Context examples 

It must be where she can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My time is of value, and the same thing may be said, no doubt, in a lesser degree of your own.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Those protoplanetary discs then form into planets, like our own Earth.

(Thousands of Planets Could Be Orbiting around Black Holes, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

She forgot even her own regret in her endeavours to make us forget.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

When a woman has five grown-up daughters, she ought to give over thinking of her own beauty.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Everyone thought soberly for a minute, then Meg announced, as if the idea was suggested by the sight of her own pretty hands, "I shall give her a nice pair of gloves."

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

"One man is killing the other man," I said, aware of a distinct bepuzzlement of my own and of failure to explain.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

The strength of the material at its locked state allowed the gripper to lift objects up to 1,000 times its own weight.

(Tiny magnetic particles enable new material to bend, twist and grab, National Science Foundation)

Remarkably, each of the three families had its own unique missense mutation affecting the very same DNA letter in the RIPK1 gene.

(Researchers discover new autoinflammatory disease and uncover its biological cause, National Institutes of Health)

The work is its own reward.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)