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Origin and history of own

own(adj.)

"properly or exclusively belonging to one's self or itself," Middle English ouen, from Old English agen, literally "possessed by," from Proto-Germanic *aiganaz "possessed, owned" (source also of Old Saxon egan, Old Frisian egin, Old Norse eiginn, Dutch eigen, German eigen "own"), from past participle of PIE root *aik- "be master of, possess," source of Old English agan "to have" (see owe). Emphatic use after a possessive noun or pronoun is from late Old English. To hold one's own "maintain one's position" is by 1520s.

own(v.)

c. 1200, ounen, ahnen, "to possess, have; rule, be in command of, have authority over;" from Old English geagnian, from root agan "to have, to own" (see owe), and in part from the adjective own (q.v.). It became obsolete after c. 1300, but was revived early 17c., in part as a back-formation of owner (mid-14c.), which continued. From c. 1300 as "to acknowledge, concede, admit as a fact," said especially of things to one's disadvantage. To own up "make full confession" is from 1853. Related: Owned; owning.

also from c. 1200

Entries linking to own

owe(v.)

Old English agan (past tense ahte) "to have, to own," from Proto-Germanic *aiganan "to possess" (source also of Old Frisian aga "have to, ought to," Old Norse eiga, Old High German eigan, Gothic aigan "to possess, have"), from PIE root *aik- "be master of, possess."

The original sense is obsolete. The meaning "to have to repay, be indebted for" began in late Old English with the phrase agan to geldanne literally "to own to yield," which was used to translate Latin debere (earlier in Old English this would have been sceal "shall"); by late 12c. the phrase had been shortened to simply agan, and own (v.) took over this word's original sense.

The intransitive meaning "be in debt" is from mid-15c. To be owing to "be due or attributable to" is by 1650s.

An original Germanic preterite-present verb (along with can (v.1), dare, may, etc.). New past tense form owed arose 15c. to replace oughte, which developed into ought (v.).

owned(adj.)

"possessed," 1620s, past-participle adjective from own (v.).

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have
Old English habban "to own, possess; be subject to, experience," from Proto-Germanic *habejanan (source also of Old Norse hafa, Old Saxon hebbjan, Old Frisian habba, German haben, Gothic haban "to have"), from PIE root *kap- "to grasp." Not related to Latin habere, despite simila
possess
late 14c., possessen, "to hold, occupy, inhabit" (without regard to ownership), a back formation from possession and in part from Old French possesser "to have and hold, take, be in possession of" (mid-13c.), from Latin possessus, past participle of possidere "to have and hold, h
expropriate
"to hold no longer as one's own, give up a claim to the exclusive property of," 1610s, back-formation from expropriation,...(mid-15c.), or from Medieval Latin expropriatus, past participle of expropriare "deprive of property, deprive of one's own...," from ex "away from" (see ex-) + propriare "take as one's own," from proprius "one's own" (see proper)....
appropriation
the taking of (something) as private property," from Late Latin appropriationem (nominative appropriatio) "a making one's own...," noun of action from past-participle stem of appropriare "to make one's own," from Latin ad "to" (see ad-) + propriare..."take as one's own," from proprius "one's own" (see proper)....
canoe
To paddle one's (own) canoe "do for oneself make one's way by one's own exertions," is from 1828, American English....THEY have a very expressive term at the West, in speaking of a man who would be the architect of his own fortune, that he...must paddle his own canoe....
narcissism
from Greek Narkissos, name of a beautiful youth in mythology (Ovid, "Metamorphoses," iii.370) who fell in love with his own...But already Krishna, enamoured of himself, had resolved to experience lust for his own self; he manifested his own Nature...
german
"of the same parents or grandparents," c. 1300, from Old French germain "own, full; born of the same mother and father; closely...related" (12c.), from Latin germanus "full, own (of brothers and sisters); one's own brother; genuine, real, actual, true...
camp
1520s, "place where an army lodges temporarily," from French camp, in this sense from Italian campo, from Latin campus "open field, level space," especially "open space for military exercise" (see campus). The direct descendant of Latin campus in French is champ "a field." The La
John Doe
fictitious plaintiff in a legal action, attested from 1768 (in Blackstone). The fictitious defendant was Richard Roe. If female, Jane Doe, Jane Roe. Replaced earlier John-a-nokes (1530s) or Jack Nokes, who usually was paired with John-a-stiles or Tom Stiles. Also used of plaintif
stock
Middle English stok, from Old English stocc "stump, wooden post, stake; trunk of a living tree; log," also "pillory" (usually plural, stocks), from Proto-Germanic *stauk- "tree trunk" (source also of Old Norse stokkr "block of wood, trunk of a tree," Old Saxon, Old Frisian stok,

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