ownership

[ oh-ner-ship ]

noun

1. the state or fact of being an owner.
2. legal right of possession; proprietorship.

ownership

/ ˈəʊnəʃɪp /

noun

1. the state or fact of being an owner
2. legal right of possession; proprietorship

Other Words From

• inter·owner·ship noun
• self-owner·ship noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of ownership¹

First recorded in 1575–85; owner + -ship

Example Sentences

We can store the data we get from platforms like Google, and thus have some sort of ownership rights ourselves to it as advertisers.

From Search Engine Land

NASA would retain sole ownership of the material upon transfer.

From MIT Technology Review

Prices far outpaced inflation, especially in the most competitive markets, putting ownership out of reach for many Americans.

From Quartz

Please note that PCS was sold by its previous ownership in August 2000.

From Fortune

It’s unclear exactly what the costs would be or how Walmart and Microsoft would split ownership.

From Quartz

The NRA objects to doctors asking patients basic questions about gun ownership.

From The Daily Beast

But does this means that animal ownership continues in heaven?

From The Daily Beast

We fight over their ownership and control, as if reality were a resource as scarce as the water and oil in Mad Max.

From The Daily Beast

The rate of violent crime had nearly doubled, so Republicans took ownership of that issue.

From The Daily Beast

Yet here we are, fighting over ownership of the idea of freedom.

From The Daily Beast

But after all, land is only one particular case of ownership under the one and the same system.

From Project Gutenberg

If the finder knows who the owner is or has a reasonable clue to the ownership, which he disregards, he is guilty of larceny.

From Project Gutenberg

The private ownership of land is one of the greatest incentives to human effort that the world has ever known.

From Project Gutenberg

By statute the stock record of ownership is usually made the conclusive test of the right to vote.

From Project Gutenberg

Also, ownership of vast limits of growing spruce was necessary to the control of the valley.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• control
• holding
• partnership
• property
• purchase
• takeover