ownership

noun

Definition of ownershipnext
as in control
the state or fact of owning something Home ownership is on the rise in this country. The café is now under new ownership.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ownership In the foreclosure lawsuit, the bank requested that Turk pay the $100,000 in 12 months or the bank would take back ownership and sell the property. — Taylor O'Connor 17, Kansas City Star, 17 July 2026 Instead, ownership decided to close, and the series was canceled, a spokesperson confirmed. — Connie Ogle july 17, Miami Herald, 17 July 2026 Namibia has also prevented Starlink from entering its telecoms markets over local ownership rules that have become a point of contention for multinational firms operating in Africa. — Tiisetso Motsoeneng, semafor.com, 17 July 2026 Berg is intimately familiar with the league, having been a part of LAFC’s ownership since the team’s 2018 debut, including a four-year stint as the control owner. — Kurt Badenhausen, Sportico.com, 17 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for ownership
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ownership
  1. control
  2. keeping
  3. proprietorship
  4. possession
  5. power
Noun
  • His ability to implement policies aimed at boosting economic growth — such as reindustrialization, building more social housing and taking greater public control of utilities — will also be severely constrained by weak government finances.
    — Hanna Ziady, CNN Money, 18 July 2026
  • In an increasingly unpredictable business environment, executives seek control over their biology through peptides, promising faster recovery and improved performance.
    — Julian Hayes II, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026
Definition of control
Noun
  • The marmoset is thought to have been dumped by its owner, prompting animal welfare officers to warn of further abandonments as a result of a recent change in the law surrounding the keeping of primates in England.
    — Lianne Kolirin, CNN Money, 21 July 2026
  • The health of the quarter was also due in large part to the chain keeping costs in check.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 20 July 2026
Definition of keeping
Noun
  • Those colours, as worn by Newton Heath — the club formed in 1878 who became Manchester United in 1902 — would become a symbol of the fight against the Glazers’ proprietorship.
    — Chris McKenna, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2026
  • The New York Times described its methodology for producing the list, which started with selecting the criteria against which stores would be judged, including inventory, curation, proprietorship, customer service, ambience, location and payoff.
    — Adrienne Roberts, Freep.com, 3 Dec. 2025
Definition of proprietorship
Noun
  • La Roja is a far more patient team, preferring to keep possession and pass their opponent to death, waiting for any momentary lapse of concentration.
    — Ben Church, CNN Money, 19 July 2026
  • On the one hand, circulating the ball can slowly run down the opponents’ batteries as they are starved of possession for long periods, pinned further back towards their own goal with legs becoming heavier and minds cloudier.
    — Mark Carey, New York Times, 18 July 2026
Definition of possession
Noun
  • Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Saudi Arabia reported raising alarms or fending off Iranian attacks, as Kuwait said another power and water desalination plant was hit.
    — Jomana Karadsheh, CNN Money, 19 July 2026
  • The strikes injured several people at the oil facility and caused a fire at the desalination plant, forcing several power generation units offline.
    — Jon Gambrell, Fortune, 18 July 2026
Definition of power

Browse Nearby Words

owners
ownership
owning
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Ownership.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ownership. Accessed 24 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on ownership

Nglish: Translation of ownership for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about ownership

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of itinerant

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 24

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
thumbnail graphic with text word of the day quiz
Weekly "Word of the Day" Quiz See how well you know each Word of the Day for Ju...
See All