own
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own¹
- /əʊn/ UK
- /aːn/ Northumbria
- /aʊn/ UK, sometimes
- /oʊn/ US
- /uŋ/ Hong Kong
Rhymes with -əʊn
Where it comes from
From Middle English oun, owen, from Old English āgen (“own, proper, peculiar”), originally the past participle of āgan; from Proto-West Germanic *aigan (“own”), from Proto-Germanic *aiganaz (“own”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyḱ- (“to have, possess”). Doublet of eigen-.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots ain, awin, awn, ayn (“own”), Saterland Frisian oain (“own”), West Frisian, Dutch, and German eigen (“own”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Swedish egen (“own”), Faroese egin (“own”), Icelandic eigin, eiginn (“own”), Norwegian Nynorsk eigen (“own”); also Ossetian исын (isyn, “to take”), Tocharian A and Tocharian B aik- (“to know, recognize”), Sanskrit ईश (īśa, “owning, possessing”). Originally past participle of the verb at hand in English owe.
adjective ain · owne
- Belonging to; possessed; acquired and designated by; proper to; property of; titled to; held in one's name; under/using the name of. Often marks a possessive determiner as reflexive, referring back to the subject of the clause or sentence. The fathers shall not bee put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: euery man shall be put to death for his owne sinne.
- Not shared. When we move into the new house, the kids will each have their own bedroom.
- Peculiar, domestic.
- Not foreign.
own²
- /əʊn/ UK
- /aːn/ Northumbria
- /aʊn/ UK, sometimes
- /oʊn/ US
- /uŋ/ Hong Kong
Rhymes with -əʊn
Where it comes from
A back-formation from owner. Compare Old English āgnian, Dutch eigenen, German eignen, Swedish ägna.
verb owns · owning · owned
-
To have rightful possession of (property, goods or capital); to have legal title to; to acquire a property or asset.
I own this car.
Similar: to possess, acquire, have to one's name, property of, title to
- To have recognized political sovereignty over a place, territory, as distinct from the ordinary connotation of property ownership. The United States owns Point Roberts by the terms of the Treaty of Oregon.
- To defeat or embarrass; to overwhelm. I will own my enemies.
- To virtually or figuratively enslave.
-
To defeat, dominate, or be above.
Similar: pwn, beat, defeat, overcome, overthrow, vanquish, have, take, best
- To illicitly obtain administrative access to a computer system, thereby having full access to all the files thereon (including executables). "TH15 5Y5T3M 15 0WN3D"
- To be very good.
- To admit, concede, grant, allow; not to deny. I own thy speechless, placeless power; but to the last gasp of my earthquake life will dispute its unconditional, unintegral mastery in me.
- To acknowledge. I must own that I have been at fault all this time.
- To proudly acknowledge; to not be ashamed or embarrassed of. "Well, I'm not hiding anymore! I'm owning my girly looks with cute short pink hair!"
- To take responsibility for. Representative Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina, told reporters that Democrats “own” the assassination of Mr. Kirk. When a reporter questioned her about attacks on Democrats, she cut him off. “Democrats own this,” she said. “We’re talking about Charlie Kirk right now.”
- To recognise. I own him as a son of my own.
- To claim as one's own.
- To confess.
Opposite: disown
noun owns
- A crushing insult. the amount of bigots that just screenshot my profile thinking it's the biggest own is insane.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: personal, have, possess, ain, same, equal, subjective, characteristic, self-same, typical, germane, relevant, autonomous, distinctive, distinct, actual
verb
Opposite: disown
Translations
Every language
adj belonging to (determiner)
| Español | propio |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 자기의 jagi-ui |
| 日本語 | 自身の jishin no |
| 中文 | 自己的 zìjǐ de |
| हिन्दी | अपना apnā |
| Português | próprio |
| Français | propre |
| Deutsch | eigen |
| Italiano | proprio |
| Ελληνικά | δικός dikós |
| Română | propriu |
| Русский | свой svoj, со́бственный sóbstvennyj |
| Tiếng Việt | riêng |
| العربية | مِلْك milk, نَفْس nafs |
| עברית | מִשֶּׁל |
verb have rightful possession of
| Español | poseer, tener |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 소유하다 soyuhada |
| 日本語 | 所有する shoyū suru |
| 中文 | 擁有 /拥有 yōngyǒu, 有 yǒu, 所有 suǒyǒu |
| Kiswahili | miliki |
| Português | possuir |
| Français | posséder, avoir |
| Deutsch | besitzen, haben |
| Italiano | possedere |
| Română | deține |
| Русский | владе́ть vladétʹ, облада́ть obladátʹ, име́ть imétʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | sở hữu |
| العربية | مَلَكَ malaka |
| עברית | but see יש ל־ yésh l'-, היה ל־ hayá l'-, שייך ל־ shayákh l'- |
verb acknowledge responsibility for
| Español | reconocer, admitir |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | eingestehen, zugeben |
| Русский | признава́ть priznavátʹ |
Talk about this word "own." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/own. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. own. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/own "own." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/own.Cite this
@misc{own_2026,
title = {own},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/own},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
