ownership
Americannoun
-
the state or fact of being an owner
-
legal right of possession; proprietorship
Other Word Forms
- interownership noun
- self-ownership noun
Etymology
Origin of ownership
Explanation
Ownership is the state of owning something. Anything that people own or possess gives them the quality of ownership. Wars are often fought over the ownership of land. When you buy a book, you own it. Add the suffix ship to owner, and now you have ownership of that lovely book. If you buy a house, you have ownership of it. Politicians like to talk about the “American dream of home ownership.” If you buy a lottery ticket, you have ownership of that, too. If you win big, you’ll have ownership of lots of cash and then you, too can realize that American dream.
Vocabulary lists containing ownership
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ship
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"CLEP Financial Accounting," Vocabulary from Chapter 19
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-ship
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It's for forever. Once the asset's been secured and upgraded, it can change its purpose, but it can't change its ownership."
From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026
He pointed to his declining ownership stake in Tesla—from 60% in 2004 to 15% in 2025—as an example of what his intentions were for his OpenAI stake.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026
Paramount has long maintained the foreign ownership issue was largely resolved because the Middle Eastern families would not have voting representatives on the company’s board.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2026
The uptick comes as the ongoing costs of car ownership, from insurance to maintenance to gas, have been on the rise.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 28, 2026
Major Puff would not hesitate to claim ownership if he really wanted the almost perfect burrow.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
