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own

Pronunciation: /əʊn/

Translate own | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of own

adjective & pronoun

  • used with a possessive to emphasize that someone or something belongs or relates to the person mentioned: [as adjective]:they can’t handle their own children I was an outcast among my own kind [as pronoun]:the Church would look after its own
  • done or produced by and for the person mentioned: [as adjective]:I used to design all my own clothes [as pronoun]:they claimed the work as their own
  • particular to the person or thing mentioned; individual: [as adjective]:the style had its own charm [as pronoun]:the film had a quality all its own

verb

  • 1 [with object] have (something) as one’s own; possess:his father owns a restaurant (as adjective, in combination -owned)a state-owned company
  • 2 [no object] formal admit or acknowledge that something is the case or that one feels a certain way:she owned to a feeling of profound jealousy [with clause]:he was reluctant to own that he was indebted
  • [with object] take or acknowledge full responsibility for (something):I emphasize the importance of owning our anger and finding ways to control it
  • [with object] archaic acknowledge paternity, authorship, or possession of:he has published little, trivial things which he will not own
  • 3 [with object] US informal utterly defeat or humiliate:yeah right, she totally owned you, man

Phrases

as if (or like) one owns the place

informal in an overbearing or self-important manner: he would have walked in and taken charge as if he owned the place

be one's own man (or woman)

  • 1act independently and with confidence: I must show them that I am my own man, not merely my father’s shadow behind everything she did was a raw power that emphasized she was her own woman
  • 2 archaic be in full possession of one’s faculties.

come into its (or one's) own

become fully effective, used, or recognized:the two folk languages will at last come into their own

hold one's own

retain a position of strength in a challenging situation: Britain has begun to hold its own in world markets

of one's own

belonging to oneself alone:at last I’ve got a place of my own

on one's own

unaccompanied by others; alone or unaided: she’s not here now and I have to do things on my own these are exercises one can do on one’s own

Phrasal Verbs

own up

admit to having done something wrong or embarrassing:he owns up to few mistakes

Origin:

Old English āgen (adjective and pronoun) 'owned, possessed', past participle of āgan 'owe'; the verb (Old English āgnian 'possess', also 'make own's own') was originally from the adjective, later probably reintroduced from owner

own in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of own in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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leporine

/ ˈlɛpərʌɪn /
adjective
of or resembling a hare or hares …