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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

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English

own

/əʊn/
Belonging to; possessed; acquired and designated by; proper to; property of; titled to; held in one's name; under/using the name of. Often marks a possessive determiner as reflexive, referring back to the subject of the clause or sentence.

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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    From Middle English oun, owen, from Old English āgen (“own, proper, peculiar”), originally the past participle of āgan; from Proto-West Germanic *aigan (“own”), from Proto-Germanic *aiganaz (“own”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyḱ- (“to have, possess”). Doublet of eigen-.

    Cognates

    Cognate with Scots ain, awin, awn, ayn (“own”), Saterland Frisian oain (“own”), West Frisian, Dutch, and German eigen (“own”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Swedish egen (“own”), Faroese egin (“own”), Icelandic eigin, eiginn (“own”), Norwegian Nynorsk eigen (“own”); also Ossetian исын (isyn, “to take”), Tocharian A and Tocharian B aik- (“to know, recognize”), Sanskrit ईश (īśa, “owning, possessing”). Originally past participle of the verb at hand in English owe.

    Etymology 2

    A back-formation from owner. Compare Old English āgnian, Dutch eigenen, German eignen, Swedish ägna.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • rootProto-Indo-European*h₂eyḱ- “to come into possession of, obtain; to own, possess”
    • derivedMiddle Englishoun
      • derivedOld Englishāgen “own, proper, peculiar”
        • derivedProto-West Germanic*aigan “own”
          • derivedProto-Germanic*aiganaz “own”
      • derivedEnglishowe “To be under an obligation to give something back to someone or to perform some action for someone.”
        • inheritedMiddle Englishowen
          • inheritedOld Englishāgān “to own, possess”
    • derivedEnglishowner “One who owns something.”
      • inheritedMiddle Englishouner

    Related: English eigen- (doublet), Scots ain, Saterland Frisian oain, fy,nl,de eigen, da,nb,sv egen, Faroese egin, Icelandic eigin, Norwegian Nynorsk eigen, Ossetian исын, xto,txb aik-, Sanskrit ईश, Old English āgnian, Dutch eigenen, German eignen, Swedish ägna

    Words built on it: part-own

    Meanings

    adj
    1. Belonging to; possessed; acquired and designated by; proper to; property of; titled to; held in one's name; under/using the name of. Often marks a possessive determiner as reflexive, referring back to the subject of the clause or sentence.
    2. Not shared.
    3. Peculiar, domestic.
    4. Not foreign.
    verb
    1. To have rightful possession of (property, goods or capital); to have legal title to; to acquire a property or asset.
    2. To have recognized political sovereignty over a place, territory, as distinct from the ordinary connotation of property ownership.
    3. To defeat or embarrass; to overwhelm.
    4. To virtually or figuratively enslave.
    5. To defeat, dominate, or be above.
    6. To illicitly obtain administrative access to a computer system, thereby having full access to all the files thereon (including executables).
    noun
    1. A crushing insult.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: own