own
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or belonging to oneself or itself (usually used after a possessive to emphasize the idea of ownership, interest, or relation conveyed by the possessive).
He spent only his own money.
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(used as an intensifier to indicate oneself as the sole agent of some activity or action, preceded by a possessive).
He insists on being his own doctor.
verb (used with object)
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owns,
present (3rd person singular)
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owned,
past participle, past
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owning
present participle
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to have or hold as one's own; possess.
They own several homes.
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to acknowledge or admit.
to own a fault.
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to acknowledge as one's own; recognize as having full claim, authority, power, dominion, etc..
He owned his child before the entire assembly. They owned the king as their lord.
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to totally defeat, gain control over, or dominate in a competition.
I totally owned the last two levels of the game.
He owned the season from beginning to end and took the world title.
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to take over a (a computer system, program, or computer) without authorization.
The network has been owned by a hacker.
verb (used without object)
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owns,
present (3rd person singular)
-
owned,
past participle, past
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owning
present participle
idioms
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get one's own back, to get revenge and thereby a sense of personal satisfaction, as for a slight or a previous setback; get even with somebody or something.
He saw the award as a way of getting his own back for all the snubs by his colleagues.
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of one's own, belonging to oneself.
She had never had a room of her own.
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come into one's own,
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to take possession of that which is due or owed one.
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to receive the recognition that one's abilities merit.
She finally came into her own as a sculptor of the first magnitude.
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on one's own,
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by dint of one's own efforts, resources, or sense of responsibility; independently.
Because she spoke the language, she got around the country very well on her own.
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living or functioning without dependence on others; independent.
My son's been on his own for several years.
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hold one's own,
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to maintain one's position or condition.
The stock market seems to be holding its own these days.
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to be equal to the opposition.
He can hold his own in any fight.
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determiner
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(intensifier)
John's own idea
your own mother
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( as pronoun )
I'll use my own
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on behalf of oneself or in relation to oneself
he is his own worst enemy
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to become fulfilled
she really came into her own when she got divorced
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to receive what is due to one
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informal to have revenge
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to maintain one's situation or position, esp in spite of opposition or difficulty
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without help
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by oneself; alone
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verb
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(tr) to have as one's possession
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to confess or admit; acknowledge
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rare (tr; takes a clause as object) to concede
I own that you are right
Synonym Usage
See have.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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ownsimple
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ownssimple
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have ownedperfect
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has ownedperfect
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am owningprogressive
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are owningprogressive
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is owningprogressive
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have been owningperfect progressive
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has been owningperfect progressive
Past
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ownedsimple
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had ownedperfect
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was owningprogressive
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were owningprogressive
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had been owningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of own
First recorded before 900; (adjective) Middle English owen, Old English āgen (cognate with German eigen, Old Norse eigenn ), originally the past participle of āgan “to possess” ( see owe); (verb) Middle English ownen, Old English āgnian, āhnian, derivative of āgen
Explanation
If you own something, it belongs to you. You can use the verb own to describe possession of any kind of property, ranging from a saucepan to a fancy mansion. If something can be bought, it can be owned. You wouldn’t say that you own people or intangible objects. But you might own a car, for example, and if you’re lucky, you might own a lot of really cool shoes. Own can also be an adjective describing something that belongs to a particular person, like your own bedroom, or your own mind. If you admit to something, you "own up to it," admitting the responsibility belongs to you.
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.
See Examples For:
"Where I think Mitie have gone wrong is by not being transparent with prisoners, their families and even with their own staff about the difficulties they have experienced," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
It may also increase the calls in the South for Seoul to develop its own nuclear deterrent to counter the growing nuclear arsenal in North Korea.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
If the university’s decision holds, she may have to leave before June to to ensure she can provide for her own children.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
The latest Treasury rout has spooked investors who now own highly volatile assets but are looking for safe and reliable returns.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
The brain swells, but the skull stays the same size; a swollen brain can jam itself so tightly it will cut off its own blood supply.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
Elon Musk's SpaceX, which now owns his AI subsidiary SpaceXAI, has 1 GW of capacity at its Colossus data centers across Tennessee and Mississippi.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
And that’s money the billionaire can apply to pay down the debts of two troubled Delaware life insurers he owns that are under federal scrutiny.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
The Amazon.com founder, one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, owns three properties on Indian Creek island and has spent about $234 million combined to acquire them, public records show.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
It was released under 20th Century Fox, but earlier that year, Disney, which owns Marvel, acquired the rights to the franchise.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
“They do a good business all right. The fellow who owns this place is a fine man. He’s a good friend of mine.”
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Based on the whistleblower’s account, authorities began to explore whether Guggenheim Investments, partly owned by TWG, might have used misleading contracts to inflate its revenue and secure a better deal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
The Buss family has owned the team since 1979, when Jerry Buss bought the franchise for $67.5 million.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
During the time I owned it, I paid off the mortgage.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
The southern Ohio campus is partly located on a former uranium-enrichment site owned by the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
She’d sit nowhere but at teacher’s desk, and she thought she owned the Webster speller.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
About 30 million Americans are barred from owning guns because of their criminal convictions, according to the department.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Two-and-a-half years into owning a townhome in Orlando, Fla., one homeowner saw their HOA fees go from $330 a month to $575, they wrote on Reddit.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
The Brewers are the small-market overachievers, who somehow have retained their little-engine-that-could persona despite owning the best regular-season record in baseball last year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Cleanaway has disappointed market expectations over the past five years despite owning assets that are difficult for rivals to replicate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Big Ma, however, was none-too-pleased by Fern owning up to her ooga-mooga name.
From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia
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.
