possess
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
7 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "possess", 7-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "possess" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "possess" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
possess is aEnglishverb. It means: To have (something) as, or as if as, an owner; to have, to own. Pronounced /pəˈzɛs/. It ranks #6,949 in English word frequency. Often confused with possessed and possesses.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | possess |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /pəˈzɛs/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #6,949 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for possess is 7 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pəˈzɛs/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,949 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 16 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for possess, with forms such as "opssess", "posess", and "posesss". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "possessed", "possesses", "possessor", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *pótis From Middle English possessen (“to have, own; to obtain possession of; to inhabit, occupy”) [and other forms], from Middle French possesser, possessier, Old French possesser, possessier (“to have, own, possess; to dominate”), from Latin pos… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is possess, spelled P-O-S-S-E-S-S, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1To have (something) as, or as if as, an owner; to have, to own.
- 2Of an idea, thought, etc.: to dominate (someone's mind); to strongly influence.
- 3Of a supernatural entity, especially one regarded as evil: to take control of (an animal or person's body or mind).
- 4Of a person: to control or dominate (oneself or someone, or one's own or someone's heart, mind, etc.).
- 5Of a person: to control or dominate (oneself or someone, or one's own or someone's heart, mind, etc.).
- 6To cause an idea, thought, etc., to strongly affect or influence (someone); to inspire, to preoccupy.
- 7To occupy the attention or time of (someone).
- 8To obtain or seize (something); to gain, to win.
- 9Chiefly followed by of or with: to vest ownership of something in (oneself or someone); to bestow upon, to endow.
- 10To have control or possession of, but not to own (a chattel or an interest in land).
- 11To give (someone) information or knowledge; to acquaint, to inform.
- 12To have the ability to use, or knowledge of (a language, a skill, etc.)
- 13To inhabit or occupy (a place).
- 14Chiefly followed by that: to convince or persuade (someone).
- 15To dominate sexually; to have sexual intercourse with.
- 16To inhabit or occupy a place.
Etymology
PIE word *pótis From Middle English possessen (“to have, own; to obtain possession of; to inhabit, occupy”) [and other forms], from Middle French possesser, possessier, Old French possesser, possessier (“to have, own, possess; to dominate”), from Latin possessus (“possessed; seized”), the perfect passive participle of possideō (“to have, hold, own, possess; to have possessions; to take control or possession of, occupy, seize; to abide, inhabit, occupy; to dominate”), from potis (“able, capable, possible”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pótis (“master; ruler; husband”)) + sedeō (“to sit; to be seated; to be established, hold firm”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”)).
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: opssess,posess,posesss,posses,possses,ppossess,psosess
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for possess
Misspelling Variants of "possess"
Frequency rank: #6,949 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter P in our English index: