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)
-
owns,
present (3rd person singular)
-
owned,
past participle, past
-
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.
-
-
on one's own,
-
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
-
-
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:
“On the internet, people found freedom they didn’t find in their own country or city,” says Espinoza.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
In the BBC's own review, it was described as an "eccentric, kitsch and dramatic" record where Raye "unapologetically goes for broke".
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
It’s a groundbreaking new approach that makes use of the patient’s own DNA to create a custom treatment that’s administered alongside Keytruda, Merck’s cancer drug.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026
However, Hegseth's office had dispatched its own team.
From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026
You can’t hate your own brother—your own flesh and blood.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Although Zuckerberg lives in Palo Alto, he also owns real estate elsewhere, including in Hawaii, Washington, D.C. and Ireland.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
The brewer, which owns the Samuel Adams and Truly brands, posted a profit of $43.2 million, or $4.21 a share, compared with $46.2 million, or $4.25 a share, a year earlier.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
Meta, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, denies the allegations but previously said that some of Lula's campaign ads had been mistakenly deactivated due to technical errors.
From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026
His enrollment in the area has raised the possibility that the Manning family continues to maintain a residence nearby, although there is no confirmation that the former NFL star still owns his original lakefront retreat.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026
If you looked up the records for our house, it wouldn’t even say that I’m the one who owns it.’”
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
An extensive network of undersea cables and pipelines owned and operated primarily by the private sector are thought to carry almost all the UK's international data traffic and three-quarters of its gas supplies.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
In addition to her Oak Creek Road property, Jett owned two investment properties in Los Angeles County.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
Ultimately, the maritime drive aims to use offshore nuclear power to run ports across the country and fuel a fleet of privately owned cargo vessels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
The share of households younger than 35 that owned a vehicle last year fell to 79.4% from 82.1% in 2019, according to data from the Federal Reserve.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026
Michael was wearing his Jordans, a clean pair of jeans, and one of the few T-shirts he owned that didn’t have a hole in it.
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Although Colorado remains Manning’s longtime home base, the former quarterback has a history of owning property in Tennessee, where he played college football.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026
If SpaceX acquired Tesla, the class structure would remain in place, with Musk owning 37% of the shares of the combined company while retaining 56% of the voting power, according to Levy’s calculations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
“They mature each year around mid-October, so you get a similar experience to owning individual bonds,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026
"Proud of her for owning up to it and for wanting to do better," agreed Em.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
At that moment—in November 2005—Greg Lippmann realized that he didn’t mind owning a pile of credit default swaps on subprime mortgage bonds.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
