ownership
Americannoun
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the state or fact of being an owner
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legal right of possession; proprietorship
Other Word Forms
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.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, a group that includes the top insurance official from every state, has responded to increasing private-fund ownership with tighter investment disclosure guidelines and other measures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Cavenagh became Rangers chairman, with 49ers Enterprises taking a leading role in the club's ownership.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
For analysts at Equita, an investment bank, del Vecchio's exit "re-establishes a practice of separating ownership and management" within EssilorLuxottica, "which seems appropriate at this stage of tensions in Delfin's governance".
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
“We’re not getting directly involved in or taking ownership of the goods…That’s not part of the initial model.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Maybe these desert birds could explain to him the meaning of love without ownership.
From "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho
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.
