own
own Lexical Profile
own Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Used with a possessive determiner to emphasize that someone or something belongs or relates to the person or thing mentioned.
"She decided to start her own business after working in the corporate sector for ten years."
Done, produced, or achieved entirely by the person or thing specified, without external help or intervention.
"The pastry chef bakes his own bread fresh every morning for the restaurant."
• pronoun
Something that belongs to the person or thing mentioned, or the state of being alone or independent (always preceded by a possessive determiner).
"Although the idea was originally hers, he soon claimed it as his own."
• verb
To have or hold something as one's legal or rightful property; to possess.
"The family has owned that coastal cottage for three generations."
To admit, acknowledge, or accept full responsibility for something, such as a mistake, fault, or truth.
"Good leaders are willing to own their mistakes and learn from them."
To utterly defeat, dominate, or humiliate an opponent in a competition, game, or argument (informal/slang).
"Our trivia team completely owned the defending champions in the final round."
• Rhymes for own
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived from Old English 'āgen' (adjective, literally 'possessed by') and 'āgnian' (verb, 'to make one's own'), both stemming from the Proto-Germanic verb '*aiganą' ('to have, possess'), which also gave rise to the verb 'owe'.