possess 
Whether they were English or no, It may be doubted ; 
yet they believe they were, {or the French have to pal- 
tewed them. N. Morton, New England's Memorial, p. 57. 
10f. To attain ; achieve ; accomplish. 
Where they in secret counsell close conspird, 
How to effect so hard an enterprize, 
And to posseme the purpose they dental. 
Spenter, f. Q., III. lit 51. 
= 8yn. Have, Possess, Hold. Own, Occupy. Have Is the 
most general of these words ; it may apply to a tempo- 
rary or to a permanent possession of a thing, to the Inn 
in i of that which is one's own or another's : as, to have 
good judgment ; to have another's tetter by mistake. /'<*- 
>< vx generally applies to that which is external to the pos- 
sessor, or, if not external, is viewed as something to be 
used : as, to possess a library ; if we aay a man possesses 
hands, we mean that he has them to work with ; to /<"- 
sess reason is to have it with the thought of what can be 
done with it. To A/</ is to have in one's hands to control, 
not necessarily as one's own : as, to hold a fan or a dog 
for a lady ; to hold a title-deed ; to hold the stakes for a 
contest. To own is to have a good and legal title to ; one 
may own that which he does not hold or occupy and can- 
not get into his possession, as a missing umbrella or a stolen 
horse. Occupy is chiefly physical : as, to occupy a house ; 
one may occupy that which he does not own, as a chair, 
room, office, position. 
Let me have the land 
Which stretches away upon either hand. 
Whittier, Mogg Megone, I. 
Frederic was succeeded by his son, Frederic William, 
a prince who must be allowed to have possessed some tal- 
ents for administration. Macaulay, Frederic the Great. 
Holdiny Corioli in the name of Rome. Shale., Cor., i. 6. 37. 
Habitually savages individually own their weapons and 
implements, their decorations, their dresses. 
//. Spencer, Prta. of Sociol., 292. 
Palaces which ought to be occupied by better men. 
Macaulay, Hist. F.ng., v, i. 
possessed (po-zesf), p. a. Controlled by some 
evil spirit or influence ; demented ; mail. 
He ' coming, madam ; but in very strange manner. He 
Is, sure, possessed, madam. Shak., T. N., lii. 4. 9. 
Corp. The man is mad ! 
Curb. What's that? 
Con. He is possesst. B. Jonion, Volpone, T. 8. 
possession (po-zesh'on), H. [< ME. possession, 
possessyone, possessioitn, < OF. (and P.) posses- 
sion = Sp. posesion = Pg. possessffo = It. pos- 
sessioiit-j posscssio, < L. possessio(n-), a seizing, 
possession, < possesstts, pp. of possidere, pos- 
sess: see possess.'] 1. The act of possessing, or 
the state of being possessed ; the having, hold- 
ing, or detaining of property in one's power or 
control; the state of owning or controlling; 
actual seizing or occupancy, either rightful or 
wrongful. One man may have the possession 
of a thing, and another may have the right of 
property in it. 
Ministering light prepared, they set and rise ; 
Lest total darkness Bhould by night regain 
Her old possession, and extinguish life 
In nature and all things. Hilton, P. U, iv. 66. 
It Is ill going to law for an estate with him who is in 
possession of it, and enjoys the present profits, to feed his 
cause. Dryden, Ded. of Third Misc. 
You see in their countenances they are at home, and in 
quiet possession of their present instant as It passes. 
Steele, Spectator, No. 49. 
If the possession be severed from the property, If A. 
has the jus proprletatis, and B. by some unlawful means 
has gained possextian of the lands, this is an injury to A. 
Thus ... B. ... httthonly . . . a bare or naked posses- 
sion. Blackstone, Com., III. \. 
If ... mere possession could confer sovereignty, they 
had that possession, and were entitled to that sovereignty. 
Story, Discourse, Sept 18, 1828. 
2. In laic, the physical control which belongs 
of right to unqualified ownership : the having 
a thing in such manner as to exclude the con- 
trol of other persons ; that detention of or do- 
minion over a thing by one person which pre- 
cludes others from the adverse physical occu- 
pancy of or dominion over it. In modern law the 
legal conception of possession is intermediate between the 
conception of right and that of physical occupancy, and 
shares something of the qualities of both ; but there is great 
difference of view as to the precise signification and the 
resulting proprieties of use. In general, all are agreed that 
a master has possession of a thing which belongs to him 
but is in the hand of his servant, however far away ; but a 
lender has not possession of a chattel in the hand of the 
borrower. In respect to real estate, the landlord was for- 
merly said to have possession, and the tenant was not said 
to possess or hnre possession, but only to be in possession. 
The distinction is now more commonly expressed by gay- 
ing that the tenant has actual possession (prdis possestio), 
although the legal possession may be in the landlord. The 
servant's or tenant's possession Is legal in the sense of be- 
ing lawful, but is not the legal possession in the sense in 
which that term is used In contrast to mere physical occu- 
pancy without any right of ownership. P otsessimt is some- 
times said to involve the Intent to exclude others, but a 
man may have possession without such intent, as where 
he has given a thing away, and it has not been removed ; 
or even without the consciousness of possessing, as where 
a thing Is forgotten or supposed to be lost. In Koman 
law, possession required not only physical control, but 
also the animus doniinl. When these two elements con- 
curred, there existed a riuht which was protected against 
everybody, Including the rightful owner. If he disturbed 
4637 
the possession, he could not In detente to the action (In- 
terdict) brought by the possessor plead title, but he 
had to resort to a separata action In order to assert his 
right. It was not necessary In order to make this protec- 
tion that the possession should be In good faith, but good 
faith was necessary In order to make possession ripen Into 
title by prescription. In some modern systems of law, for 
example the French code, possession acquired in good 
faith gives an ownership of chattels. 
3. The thing possessed; in the plural, goods, 
land, or rights owned; belongings: as, your 
friendship is one of my richest possessions; the 
French possessions. 
The house of Jacob shall possess their possession*. 
Obadlah 17. 
When the young man heard that saying, he went away 
sorrowful ; for he had great possessions. Mat. xlx. -'-'. 
Neither your letters nor silence needs excuse ; your 
friendship is to me an abundant possession, though you re- 
member me but twice In a year. Donne, Letters, xll. 
Hence 4. Property; wealth. 
Fy on pouetaoun 
But If a man be vertuous withal. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Franklin's Tale, 1. 14. 
5. In international laic, a country or territory 
held by right of conquest. Banner. 6. Per- 
suasion; conviction. 
I have a strong possession that with this five hundred 
I shall win five thousand. Gibber, Provoked Husband, I. 
Whoever labours under any of these possessions is as un- 
fit for conversation as a madman in Bedlam. 
Su\fl, Conversation, 
7. The state of being under the control of evil 
spirits or of madness ; madness ; lunacy : as, 
demoniacal possession. 
I knew he was not in his perfect wits. . . . 
How long hath this possession held the man ? 
Shale. , C. of E., v. 1. 44. 
There are some sins so rooted, so rivetted in men, so 
incorporated, so consubstantiated in the son), by habitual 
custom, as that those sins have contracted the nature of 
ancient possessions. Donne, Sermons, xiv. 
Forms of madness which were for ages supposed to re- 
sult from possession arc treated successfully in our hospi- 
tals, l.rcki/, Europ. Morals, I. 375. 
Actual possession, sometimes called natural possession, 
occupancy to the actual exclusion of possession by any 
others, except such as hold as the servants of the possessor 
or as representing him. and so hold without any right to 
detain as against him . Thus, a man is in actual possession <>f 
his house when he leaves It in charge of his wife or servant, 
but not when he leaves it in charge of a tenant having a 
right to retain it. Adverse possession. See adverse. 
Chose in possession. See chose?. Constructive 
possession, possession in law, sometimes called civil or 
juridical possession, a possession through the occupancy of 
others, or that iMtssesslon which is imputed by the law to 
one who has title to a thing of which no one is in actual 
possession, as for instance wild and unoccupied land. Sec 
seizin. Delivery of Juridical possession, Nee delivery. 
Demoniacal possession. See demoniacal. Envoi in 
possession, the authority granted by a court to the pre- 
sumptive heirs of an absentee, who has not been heard of 
for a certain period of years, to take jwssession of his prop- 
erty. Estate In possession, technically, an estate so 
created as to vest in the owner thereof a present right of 
present enjoyment: referring not to the fact of the thing 
owned being in the owner's possession, which may or may 
not be the case, but to the fact that the right of present 
possession is an estate or title in theowner, asdlstlnguished 
from an expectant estate. In possession, said of a person 
In actual possession of a thing, or a thing in the actual 
possession of a person, as distinguished from mere owner- 
ship. Thus, when a testator gives all his possessions or 
everything which he may possess at death, he gives not 
only the things of which he may he In possession, but also 
his property of which others may be in possession. When 
usea of an estate, it designates such an estate or interest 
as gives a right ofpossesslon, as distinguished from an ex- 
pectant estate. Thus, a gift to one person to take effect 
after the death of another is said to vest in possession when 
the death occurs irrespective of actual taking possession. 
Juridical possession. See constructive possession, above, 
and delivery. Naked possession, mere possession with- 
out color of right Natural possession. Same as actual 
possession. ^o give possession, to pat Into another s 
control or occupancy. To take possession, to enter 
upon or to take under control or occupancy. 
The Lord of Love went by 
To take possession of his flowery throne. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, I. 221. 
Unity Of possession. See estate in joint tenancy, un- 
der estate. Vacant possession, a phrase used occasion- 
ally of lands not In the possession of any person. Writ 
Of possession, in law, a process directing a sheriff to 
put a person In peaceable possession of property recov- 
ered In ejectment =8yn. 1. Ownership, occupation, ten- 
ure, control. See possess. 
possession! (po-zesh'on), v. t. [<possession, n.] 
To invest with property. 
Sundry more gentlemen this little hundred possessed] 
and possetsioneth. Came. 
possessional (po-zesh'on-al), a. [= F.posses- 
xionnel = Sp. posesional; as possession + -a/.] 
Same as possessive. Imp. Diet. 
possessionary (po-zesh'on-a-ri), a. [< ML. 
'possexsionariiis, ^'L. possessio(n-), possession: 
see possession.] Relating to or implying pos- 
session. Imp. Diet. 
possessionert (po-zesh'on-er), ti. [< ME. /i.- 
sessioner, < OF. possessionaire = Sp. posesio- 
posset 
nero, < ML. "possessionarius: see j 
1. One who owns or has actual possession of a 
thing, or power over it ; a possessor. 
They were a kind of people who, having been of old free- 
men .\\Apossesfioners, the Lacedemonians had conquered 
them. K'r P. Sidney, Arcadia. I. 
This term, "the Ponationen," was a popular clrculat. 
ing coinage struck In the mint of our reformer (Robert 
CrowleyJ, and probably Included much more than roeeU 
our ear. Every laud-owner, every proprietor, was a Pot- 
temoner. I. U'ltraeli, Amen, of Lit, I. 378. 
2. A member of a religious order endowed with 
lands, etc., as distinguished from those orders 
whose members lived entirely by alms ; a mem- 
ber of one of the orders possessing lauds and 
revenues ; a beneficed clergyman. 
Ne ther It nedeth nat for to be geve, 
As to pouettivners, that mowen Iv ve, 
Thanked be (jod, In wele and habnndaunce. 
Chaucer, Summoner's Tale, L 14. 
Thlse possetsiotieres preche. Piers Plomnan (K\ v. 144. 
possessive (po-zes'iv), a. and n. [< F. posses- 
sif = Sp. posesivo = Pg. It. possessiro, < L. pos- 
sessivus, possessive (in gram.), < possessiis, pp. 
of posxidere, possess : see ]>ossess?] I. a. Per- 
taining to or denoting possession ; expressing 
possession : as in a lady's dress, tin h' house, a 
mere notion of Jonn's. 
What mean these llv'ries and possessive keys? 
What mean these bargains, and these needless sales? 
(juarltr, Emblems, T. 9. 
Possessive case, in gram., the genitive case, or the case 
of nouns, pronouns, etc., which expresses possession and 
other kindred and derived relations. 
The supposition that the apostrophe 's as a mark of the 
possessive cote is a segment of his, a question which has 
been lately revived. Is here denied. 
A. Hume, Orthographic (E. E. T. S.), p. 87. 
Possessive pronoun, a derivative adjective formed from 
a personal pronoun, and denoting possession or property, 
as in my book your hand. 
H. w. 1. A pronoun or other word denoting 
possession. 2. The possessive case. 
Their and theirs are the possemecs likewise of they, 
when they Is the plural of It, and are therefore applied to 
things. Juliiisifii, English Grammar. 
possessively (po-zes'iv-li), ailr. In a manner 
denoting possession. 
possessor (po-zes'qr), . [Formerly possexsour; 
< F. possesseur = Sp. postsor = Pg. possessor = 
It. possexsore, < L. possessor, possessor, < po.v- 
itiderc, pp. possessus, possess: see possess.] One 
who possesses; one who has or enjoys anything; 
one who owns; one who holds, occupies, or con- 
trols any species of property, real or personal. 
Whereby great riches, gathered manle a day, 
She In snort space did often bring to nought, 
And their posiessours often did dismay. 
Spenter, F. Q., IV. L 29. 
And yet he lived as chcarfnlly and contentedly, by the 
faith he had In God's goodness, as If he had been poMHor 
of the whole world. Sharp, Works, V. Iv. 
Riches are the Instruments of serving the purposes of 
heaven or hell, according to the disposition of the puna- 
tor. Steele, Spectator, No. 466. 
Bqna-flde possessor. See Innafde. = Syn. Owner, pro- 
prietor, holder, master, lord. 
possessory (po-zes'6-ri), a. [< F. possessoire = 
Sp. posesorio = Pg. It. possessorio, < lAj.posses- 
soriiis, possessory, < L. possessor, a possessor: 
see possessor.'] 1. Pertaining to possession. 
A possessory feeling In the heart Chalmen. 
But it will be based upon fear, and, among lower ani- 
mals, inherited habit, rather than upon any sense of M* 
esfory right. Westminster Ret. , CXX VI. 184. 
2. Having possession : as, a possessory lord. 
Absolute equality among nations is established, and their 
commercial rights are to be held the same as those of the 
possessory government .V. A. Rev., * 'X I.II. 125. 
3. In late, arising from possession : as, a pos- 
sessory interest. 
The motive of the guardian must not be tainted by a 
selfish greed to get the land which the ward held by pos- 
sessory right X. A. Ret., CXLIir 4S8. 
Possessory action, an action to determine the right of 
p.,,. ,--inn, ;i- ,]i-liiiLfin>lH-'l from nnc t.. il> termini- t)i" 
title to the thing. See pctttory. 
If a possessory action be brought within six months 
after the avoidance, the patron shall (notwithstanding 
such usurpation and institution) recover that very pres- 
entation which gives back to him the seisin of the ad- 
vowson. Blacltstone, Com., III. xvl. 
Possessory judgment. In Scots law, a judgment which 
entitles a person who has been In uninterrupted posses- 
sion for aeven years to continue his possession until the 
question of right shall be decided at law. 
Either touching possessory judgment! of ecclesiastical 
livings, or concerning nominations thereunto. 
Uooter, Eccles. Polity, vill. 6. 
posset (pos'et), H. [< MK. posset, possett, pos- 
syt (ft. F. posset, possette, < E. f ) ; perhaps < Ir. 
jiiixniil, a posset; of. W. pogel, enroled milk, a 
posset, < jwsiaw, gather, heap. The L. p.--<-n. 
