Possessed

How to spell possessed

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce possessed

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does possessed mean?

1. verbOwned, held, or had as a quality or attribute (past tense and participle of possess).
2. adjectiveControlled or driven by an external force, especially an evil spirit, or by an overwhelming emotion.

Possessed in a sentence

• verb

  Before the recession she possessed three rental properties in the city.

• adjective

  The horror film follows a girl who behaves as though she is possessed by a demon.

• verb

  The young analyst possessed a rare talent for spotting errors in the figures.

• adjective

  He worked like a man possessed, finishing the entire report overnight.

Where does possessed come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb possidere, meaning 'to own' or 'to occupy', which was built from potis, meaning 'able' or 'master', joined to sedere, meaning 'to sit'. The literal image is striking: to possess something was to 'sit as master' over it, the way a landholder settled on and controlled an estate. The verb passed into English through Old French possesser during the 1400s, carrying the sense of holding or owning. By the 1500s the participle 'possessed' had taken on a darker, supernatural meaning, describing a person whose body and will were thought to be owned and controlled by a demon or spirit. The spelling trap is entirely in the middle and end: two pairs of double s sit close together (poss-ess), and the silent grip of that doubling is what trips up even confident writers.

How the word is built

• poss- (from Latin posse/potis: having power, master)
• -sess (from sedere: to sit)
• -ed (past tense / participle)