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own (ōn)
Share:
adj.
Of or belonging to oneself or itself: She makes her own clothes.
n.
That which belongs to one: I wanted a room of my own.
v. owned, own·ing, owns
v.tr.
1.
a. To have or possess as property: owns a chain of restaurants.
b. To have control over: For a time, enemy planes owned the skies.
2. To admit as being in accordance with fact, truth, or a claim; acknowledge: "I own that I have been sly, thievish, mean, a prevaricator, greedy, derelict, / and I own that I remain so yet" (Walt Whitman).
v.intr.
To make a full confession or acknowledgment: When confronted with the evidence the thief owned up to the crime. See Synonyms at acknowledge.
Idiom:
on (one's) own
1. By one's own efforts: She got the job on her own.
2. Responsible for oneself; independent of outside help or control: He is now out of college and on his own.
[Middle English owene, owne, from Old English āgen; see aik- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
owner n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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