Possess
verbTo have or own something, or to hold a quality or skill.
How to spell possess
7 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce possess
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does possess mean?
- verbTo have or own something, or to hold a quality or skill.
Possess in a sentence
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To drive the van legally she must possess a valid licence.
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Few candidates possess the patience this job demands.
Where does possess come from?
Language of origin: Latin
The word traces back to the Latin verb possidere, which meant 'to hold' or 'to occupy', and which was built from potis, meaning 'able' or 'having power', joined to sedere, meaning 'to sit'. The literal image is striking: to possess something was originally to sit as its master, to be settled in control of it. English borrowed the word in the late 1400s through the Old French possesser, keeping the doubled letters from the Latin form. The same sedere root sits quietly inside other English words such as 'sediment' and 'reside', all carrying the idea of settling or staying put. For the speller, the trap is that the word packs two pairs of letters that sound identical: a double s in the middle and a double s at the end, so it is easy to drop one set and write 'posess' or 'possesss'.
How the word is built
- pos- (from potis: able, having power)
- -sess (from sedere: to sit)
- double s spelling
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