# possession
## English
### Etymology

From Latin possessiō, possessiōnis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pəˈzɛʃən/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛʃən

### Noun

possession (countable and uncountable, plural possessions)
* Control or occupancy of something for which one does not necessarily have private property rights.
    Hyponym: mortmain
** 2020 April 8, Paul Stephen, “ECML dive-under drives divergence”, in Rail, page 44:Once complete, guide rails will be installed inside the tunnels ready for the box jack itself - which NR intends to push into place during a nine-day engineering possession in September, following a trial push in late August. [...] A small number of weekday and weekend possessions will also be required on June 20-21, September 5-6, and between December 19-March 2021, [...]
* Something that is owned.
    Synonyms: (obsolete) ight; see also Thesaurus:property
    The car quickly became his most prized possession.
    I would gladly give all of my worldly possessions just to be able to do that.
* Ownership; taking, holding, keeping something as one's own.
    Synonyms: owndom, retention; see also Thesaurus:ownership
    Antonym: absence
    The car is in my possession.
    I'm in possession of the car.
* A territory under the rule of another country.
    Réunion is the largest of France's overseas possessions.
* The condition or affliction of being possessed by a demon or other supernatural entity.
    Synonym: (obsolete) enthusiasm
    Back then, people with psychiatric disorders were sometimes thought to be victims of demonic possession.
** c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:How long hath this possession held the man?
* The condition of being under the control of strong emotion or madness.
* (sports) Control of the ball; the opportunity to be on the offensive.
    The scoreboard shows a little football symbol next to the name of the team that has possession.
** 2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC‎:Their first half was marred by the entire side playing too deep, completely unable to build up any form of decent possession once the ball left their bewildered defence.
* (Australian rules football) A disposal of the ball during a game, i.e. a kick or a handball.
** 2019 In the mix: Who's pushing for selection for round eight? Australian Football League, 7 May 2019. Accessed 7 May 2019.
    Defender Colin O'Riordan had 41 possessions in the NEAFL last week to continue his outstanding form, while Ryan Clarke had 47 in the Swans' big loss to Brisbane.
* (linguistics) A syntactic relationship between two nouns or nominals that may be used to indicate ownership.
    Some languages distinguish between a construction like 'my car', which shows alienable possession — the car could become someone else's — and one like 'my foot', which has inalienable possession — my foot will always be mine.

#### Usage notes

* One who possesses is often said to have possession (of), hold possession (of), or be in possession (of).
* One who acquires is often said to take possession (of), gain possession (of), or come into possession (of).

#### Derived terms

* adverse possession
* catch in possession
* debtor in possession
* fee simple absolute in possession
* hostile possession
* possessional
* possession arrow
* possessionary
* possessioner
* Possession Island
* possessionism
* possession is nine points of the law
* possession is nine-tenths of the law
* possessionist
* possessionless
* possession of interest
* possession with intent to supply
* possession with the intent to supply
* self-possession
* take possession

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Verb

possession (third-person singular simple present possessions, present participle possessioning, simple past and past participle possessioned)
* (obsolete) To invest with property.

### References

* ↑ “possession”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

## French
### Etymology

From Latin possessionem (nominative of possessio).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pɔ.sɛ.sjɔ̃/ ~ /pɔ.se.sjɔ̃/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

possession f (plural possessions)
* possession

#### Derived terms

* prendre possession

### Further reading

* “possession”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.