possession
noun
Possession — whatever a person can rightly call their own
Definition
Anything owned or possessed
In depth
A possession is anything owned, held, or claimed by someone, the word naming both the relationship of ownership and, by extension, the object owned itself. Beyond the material sense, the word carries a darker, older meaning, describing the state of being controlled or inhabited by an outside force, spirit, or obsession.
Origin
The word descends from Latin possidere, to hold or have power over, formed from potis (able, powerful) and sedere (to sit) — etymologically, to possess something is to 'sit upon' it with authority. That ancient image of settled, seated control underlies both the word's mundane sense of ownership and its eerier sense of being overtaken by an external force.
Usage examples
"Among his few possessions, the worn photograph mattered to him more than anything of greater value."
"She guarded her independence as fiercely as any possession she owned."
"The villagers spoke in hushed tones of the old house, certain it had once been the site of a genuine possession."
How to use it
Possession works comfortably in plain descriptive prose naming material belongings, but its older, supernatural sense remains alive in gothic and horror writing, where a writer can exploit the word's double meaning for unsettling effect.
Related concepts
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