Etymograph

English

possess

Possess comes from Middle French possesser ‘to possess’, from Proto-Indo-European *pótis ‘master’, and ultimately from *sed- ‘to sit’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-1‘to sit’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pótis1‘master’next step skipped: Latin possideō
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpossessus1‘possessed’
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600possesser1‘to possess’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500possessen1‘to have, own’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591possess1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English possess
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “My eares are ſtopt, & cannot hear good newes,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-Wiktionary, English possess‘to sit’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pótisWiktionary, English possess‘master’next step skipped: Latin possideō
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpossessusWiktionary, English possess‘possessed’
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600possesserWiktionary, English possess‘to possess’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500possessenWiktionary, English possess‘to have, own’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591possessWiktionary, English possess. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “My eares are ſtopt, & cannot hear good newes,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’

president, set, size, sit, sitting, method, chair, sell, seat, resident, session, siege, niche, nest, saddle, exodus, subsidy, reside, nye, residual, residue, sedan, assess, insidious, sediment, 110 more

through Proto-Indo-European *pótis ‘master’

potential, impossible, possibility, potent, potency, 5 more

Today it means

verb To have (something) as, or as if as, an owner; to have, to own.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “possess”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sed- / possess

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