- The definition of own is something that belongs to oneself.
An example of own used as an adjective is the phrase is "make your own pasta," when a man makes pasta from scratch.
- To own is defined as to possess or acknowledge something.
An example of to own is purchasing a car stereo.
A machine for making your own pasta.
own
adjective
- belonging, relating, or peculiar to oneself or itself: used to strengthen a preceding possessive: his own book, her own idea
- Now Rare related by blood rather than by marriage
Origin of own
Middle English owen ; from Old English agen, past participle of agan, to possess: see owenoun
,pronoun
transitive verb
- to possess; hold as personal property; have
- to admit; recognize; acknowledge
intransitive verb
come into one's own
get one's own back
of one's own
on one's own
Informal- by one's own efforts or on one's own initiative
- independent of help from others
own up (to)
own
adjective
noun
verb
owned, own·ing, ownsverb
, transitive- a. To have or possess as property: owns a chain of restaurants.b. To have control over: For a time, enemy planes owned the skies.
- To admit as being in accordance with fact, truth, or a claim; acknowledge: “I own that I have been sly, thievish, mean, a prevaricator, greedy, derelict, / and I own that I remain so yet” (Walt Whitman).
verb
, intransitiveOrigin of own
Middle English owen, from Old English āgen; see aik- in Indo-European roots.Related Forms:
- own′er
noun
own
(third-person singular simple present owns, present participle owning, simple past and past participle owned)
- To have rightful possession of (property, goods or capital); "To possess by right; to have the right of property in; to have the legal right or rightful title to." (Ref 1)
- I own this car.
- To claim as one's own; to answer to.
- To defeat or embarrass; to overwhelm.
- I will own my enemies.
- If he wins, he will own you.
- To virtually or figuratively enslave.
- (gaming, slang) To defeat, dominate, or be above, also spelled pwn.
- (computing, slang) To illicitly obtain "super-user" or "root" access into a computer system thereby having access to all of the user files on that system; pwn.
- (intransitive) To admit to be true; concede, grant, allow, acknowledge, confess; not to deny; to admit to be true. (Ref 2)
- (intransitive) To acknowledge or admit the possession or ownership of. (Ref 3)
From Middle English ownen, from Old English āgnian (“to own”). Cognate with German eignen, Swedish ägna, Icelandic eiga. See also the related term owe.
- Belonging to; possessed; proper to.
- Surprisingly, I realised my own brother had the same idea as me. You need to find your own seat - this one is mine. He gave her a pen, because he already had his own. The restored Maxwell is Bob's own car. They went this way, but we need to find our own way. We have made some arrangements, but you will need to make your own. They were all prepared for the picnic, because they had all brought their own food and plates.
- implying ownership, often with emphasis. It always follows a possessive pronoun, or a noun in the possessive case.
From Middle English owen, aȝen, from Old English āgen (“own, proper, peculiar”), from Proto-Germanic *aiganaz (“own”), from Proto-Indo-European *eiḱ- (“to have, possess”). Cognate with Scots ain (“own”), Dutch eigen (“own”), German eigen (“own”), Swedish egen (“own”), Icelandic eigin (“own”).
(third-person singular simple present owns, present participle owning, simple past and past participle owned)
- To admit; concede; acknowledge.
- To recognise; acknowledge.
- to own one as a son
- (intransitive, UK dialectal) To confess.
From Middle English unnen (“to favour, grant”), from Old English unnan (“to grant, allow, recognise, confess”), from Proto-Germanic *unnaną (“to grant, thank”), from Proto-Indo-European *ān- (“to notice”). Akin to German gönnen (from Old High German gi- + unnan), Old Norse unna (Danish unde) . In Gothic only the substantive (ansts) is attested.
