own

1 of 3

adjective

1
: belonging to oneself or itself
usually used following a possessive case or possessive adjective
cooked my own dinner
was responsible for his own bad luck
2
used to express immediate or direct kinship
an own son
an own sister
my own family

own

2 of 3

verb

owned; owning; owns

transitive verb

1
a
: to have or hold as property : possess
b
: to have power or mastery over
wanted to own his own life
2
: to acknowledge to be true, valid, or as claimed : admit
own a debt

intransitive verb

: to acknowledge something to be true, valid, or as claimed
used with to or up

own

3 of 3

pronoun

singular or plural in construction
: one or ones belonging to oneself
used after a possessive and without a following noun
gave out books so that each of us had our own
a room of your own
Phrases
on one's own
1
: for or by oneself : independently of assistance or control
made the decision on his own
2
: left to rely entirely on one's own resources
if you mess up, you're on your own
Choose the Right Synonym for own

acknowledge, admit, own, avow, confess mean to disclose against one's will or inclination.

acknowledge implies the disclosing of something that has been or might be concealed.

acknowledged an earlier peccadillo

admit implies reluctance to disclose, grant, or concede and refers usually to facts rather than their implications.

admitted the project was over budget

own implies acknowledging something in close relation to oneself.

must own I know little about computers

avow implies boldly declaring, often in the face of hostility, what one might be expected to be silent about.

avowed that he was a revolutionary

confess may apply to an admission of a weakness, failure, omission, or guilt.

confessed a weakness for sweets

Examples of own in a Sentence

Verb We hope to someday own our own home. She drives a red truck that was originally owned by her grandfather. He owns the rights to the band's music. The couple owns and operates the business. After everyone else denied any responsibility, he owned that he was at fault.
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Housing experts agree there are not enough homes available to rent or own compared to the demand. Anna Bahney, CNN, 19 Mar. 2024 Sentimentality is the solution for dramatists who don’t want to grapple too strenuously with their own questions. Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2024 Read: Megan Garber on the logical fallacy of Christine Blasey Ford’s ‘choice’ Ford’s own story, in many ways, was an exception to #MeToo’s rule. Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 19 Mar. 2024 That makes each piece, with its own technology and priorities, a potential gateway to the whole medical universe. Joseph Menn, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2024 At Disney’s 2024 annual shareholders meeting, to be held virtually April 3, investors will vote on rival board candidate slates — Disney’s own 12-member lineup, Nelson Peltz’s Trian Partners two nominees (Peltz and ex-Disney CFO Jay Rasulo) or three from investment firm Blackwells Capital. Todd Spangler, Variety, 19 Mar. 2024 The trailer kicks off with Lee Jung-jae’s Jedi Master urging a group of Padawans to not trust their own deceitful eyes, and perhaps the same can be said of the trailer and the series’ overall narrative. Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Mar. 2024 Each of the Florida Keys draws devoted fans with its own unique flavors and hospitality. Cynthia J Drake, Southern Living, 19 Mar. 2024 But as Christian points out, any hunter unfamiliar with the area, through no fault of their own, is likely to voice support for more hunting opportunity regardless of the circumstances. Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 8 Mar. 2024
Verb
The case stemmed from the breakdown of negotiations over TV station retransmission consent terms between DirecTV and stations owned by Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting. Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 21 Mar. 2024 Simultaneously, Woolsey and his then-wife Connie owned the San Marcos, Tex., club The Prairie Rose, where Woolsey first saw and became acquainted with Strait. Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 20 Mar. 2024 Advance Magazine also owns Conde Nast, which owns Vogue, American City Business Journals, and The IRONMAN Group. Luisa Beltran, Fortune, 20 Mar. 2024 With 95% of the vote in, Taylor, an Amelia resident who owns Sardinia Ready Mix Concrete, had 25.5% of the vote. Scott Wartman, The Enquirer, 20 Mar. 2024 The retailers, both owned by German companies, expedited their expansions across Europe following the 2008 recession. Jaclyn Peiser, Washington Post, 20 Mar. 2024 Maestro Dobel is owned by the Beckmann family, which also controls the world-dominating tequila brand Jose Cuervo. Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 20 Mar. 2024 That's calculated by adding up how many times music owned or controlled by a particular rights holder was streamed and dividing by the total number of streams in that market. Maria Sherman, Quartz, 19 Mar. 2024 The 43-year-old man was charged March 7 with theft for stealing from the Four Winds Casino, which is owned by the Pokagon Band of the Potawatomi Tribe, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan. Kate Linderman, Kansas City Star, 8 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'own.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English oȝen, owen, awen, going back to Old English āgen, originally past participle of āgan "to possess, own, have" — more at owe

Note: Similar use of the past participle of the cognate verb is evident in other Germanic languages: Old Frisian āin, ēin, ēgen "own," Old Saxon ēgan, Middle Dutch ēghin, eighen, Old High German eigan, Old Icelandic eiginn.

Verb

probably verbal derivative of own entry 1

Note: This verb is apparently unattested before the late sixteenth century, and is not continuous with early Middle English æȝenen, ahnen, ahnien (Layamon's Brut, Ormulum) "to gain control of, have possession of," going back to Old English āgnian "to own, possess, take possession of" (with parallel forms in other Germanic languages), a derivative of āgen own entry 1. Compare owner, from which own may be in part a back-formation.

Pronoun

Middle English owne, going back to Old English āgen, nominalized form of āgen own entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Pronoun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of own was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near own

Cite this Entry

“Own.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/own. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

own

1 of 3 adjective
: belonging to oneself or itself
my own room

own

2 of 3 verb
1
a
: to have or hold as property : possess
b
: to have power or control over
wanted to own her own life
2
: to admit that something is true : confess
owned to being scared
if you broke the window, own up
owner noun
ownership
-ˌship
noun

own

3 of 3 pronoun singular or plural
: one or ones belonging to oneself
used after a possessive
dog of his own

Legal Definition

own

transitive verb
: to have or hold as property
especially : to have title to
own property

More from Merriam-Webster on own

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