Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: POSSESSING |
POSSESSINGPersonal pronoun & verb & noun1. Of Possess |
Date "POSSESSING" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Possession | Adjective: possessing; Verb: worth; possessed of, seized of, master of, in possession of; usucapient; endowed with, blest with, instinct with, fraught with, laden with, charged with. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Title |
Books |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | Though the pears pictured do not have a texture suitable for good eating, scientists at the ARS Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, West Virginia, will combine their fire blight-resistant qualities with other lines possessing traits sought in commercial pear varieties. P. Credit: USDA ARS News; photo by Keith Weller.. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Aristotle | Dignity consists not in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them. |
Oscar Wilde | To have the reputation of possessing the most perfect social tact, talk to every woman as if you loved her, and to every man as if he bored you. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
John Locke | 1690 | They that found absolute monarchy upon the title of the sword, make their heroes, who are the founders of such monarchies, arrant Draw-can-sirs, and forget they had any officers and soldiers that fought on their side in the battles they won, or assisted them in the subduing, or shared in possessing, the countries they mastered. (Second Treatise of Government) |
Treaty of Versailles | 1919 | Such juridical persons will also have the status of AlsaceLorrainers as shall have been recognised as possessing this quality whether by the French administrative authorities or by a judicial decision. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | Vietnamese buyers often ask for equipment possessing the most advanced technology and highest quality. (references) | |
Or a foreign school may establish a joint venture with a local university as long as the former provides documentation of possessing the major requirements - a facility, teachers, a site and the financial capability - to the Korean University Foundation Deliberation Committee for review. (references) | ||
The most important factors for successful entry of software products into the Taiwan market are language localization and business practice customization of the products, continuous upgrading and development of new software versions, tailored promotional activities, flexible pricing policy, possessing a reputation for reliable service and aggressive and astute representation in the local market. (references) | ||
Civil Liberties | Equatorial Guinea | Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of censorship or arrests for possessing material retrieved from the Internet. (references) |
Morocco | Despite not possessing resident visas, the subjects of the investigation continued to face no problems residing in, exiting, and returning to the country. (references) | |
Kyrgyz Republic | Unofficial sources said that Turadi was arrested for allegedly possessing "Wahhabist" literature and was handed over to Chinese security agents in Bishkek. (references) | |
Economic History | India | The ERA provides a list of prohibited trade products and technologies, and a list of Indian defense and nuclear-related companies that U.S. firms are prohibited from dealing with or make investments in, without possessing a government export license. (references) |
Nigeria | Any traveler possessing proper CBN documentation may access the commercial banking system for obtaining travelers checks. (references) | |
Cyprus | The executive, for example, was headed by a Greek Cypriot president and a Turkish Cypriot vice president, elected by their respective communities for 5-year terms and each possessing a right of veto over certain types of legislation and executive decisions. (references) | |
Human Rights | Zimbabwe | The three were held for 2 days for possessing an "unlicensed two-way radio." Police raided their homes and confiscated their guns--although all of them were registered legally--and accused the three of possessing weapons of war. (references) |
Zimbabwe | On December 15, police again detained, questioned, and charged Tsvangirai with violating the Posts and Telecommunications Act for possessing an unlicensed radio. (references) | |
Portugal | According to Amnesty International, police arrested Jorge Manuel da Conceicao Simoes in 1999 on suspicion of possessing drugs and allegedly beat him when he refused to sign a confession. (references) | |
Political Economy | ITALY | Some professional categories (e.g. engineers, architects, lawyers, accountants) face restrictions that limit their ability to practice in Italy without possessing EU/Italian nationality, having received an Italian university degree, or having been authorized to practice by government institutions. (references) |
Korea | The Penal Code is Draconian, stipulating capital punishment and confiscation of assets for a wide variety of "crimes against the revolution," including defection, attempted defection, slander of the policies of the party or State, listening to foreign broadcasts, writing "reactionary" letters, and possessing reactionary printed matter. (references) | |
Bahrain | Possessing limited oil and gas reserves, the Government is working to diversify its economic base, concentrating on light manufacturing and the service sectors. (references) | |
Trade | Poland | Companies in Poland possessing ISO series 9000 certificates is growing. (references) |
Travel | Brazil | There are no "airport visas," and immigration authorities will refuse entry to Brazil to anyone not possessing a valid visa. (references) |
Worker Rights | Hong Kong | The courts can impose heavy fines and prison sentences for up to 14 years for such activities as arranging passage of unauthorized entrants into Hong Kong, assisting unauthorized entrants to remain in Hong Kong, using or possessing a forged, false or unlawfully obtained travel document, and aiding and abetting any person to use such a document. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | PLENIPOTENTIARY, adj. Having full power. A Minister Plenipotentiary is a diplomatist possessing absolute authority on condition that he never exert it. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
James Madison | 1809-1817 | Having reached his destination after his knowledge of the war, and possessing discretionary authority to act offensively, he passed into the neighboring territory of the enemy with a prospect of easy and victorious progress. |
James Monroe | 1817-1825 | Possessing as we do all the raw materials, the fruit of our own soil and industry, we ought not to depend in the degree we have done on supplies from other countries. |
Harry S. Truman | 1945-1953 | By contrast with Germany, in Japan we have occupied a country still possessing an organized and operating governmental system. |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | The only value in our two nations possessing nuclear weapons is to make sure they will never be used. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "POSSESSING" is generally used as a lexical verb (-ing form) -- approximately 98.36% of the time. "POSSESSING" is used about 427 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (-ing form) | 98.36% | 420 | 13,547 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 0.94% | 4 | 175,879 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.47% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Noun (singular) | 0.23% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 427 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes names derived from the word "POSSESSING". | |||
| Name | Gender | Language | Meaning |
| Jokneam | N/A | Biblical | Possessing |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references.
| |||
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
possessing the secret of joy | 6 |
possessing | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "POSSESSING"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 拥有 (Own, Owned, Owning, Possess, Possessed). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | beskyttelse af nationale skatte af kunstnerisk,historisk eller arkaeologisk vaerdi (historic or archaelogical value, the protection of national treasures possessing artistic). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | tot bescherming van het nationaal cultuurbezit van artistieke,historische en archeologische waarde (historical or archeological value, on grounds of the protection of national treasures possessing artistic), camera voorzien van een zuigwand (camera possessing a vacuum back), bescherming van het nationaal artistiek,historisch of archeologisch bezit (historic or archaelogical value, the protection of national treasures possessing artistic). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | possédant. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | besitzend (owning, propertied, proprietary). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | η προστασία των εθνικών θησαυρών που έχουν καλλιτεχνική,ιστορική ή αρχαιολογική αξία (historic or archaelogical value, the protection of national treasures possessing artistic). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | porta pellicola con sistema d'aspirazione (camera possessing a vacuum back), la protezione del patrimonio artistico,storico o archeologico nazionale (historic or archaelogical value, the protection of national treasures possessing artistic). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 胴長 (possessing a long torso). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | どうなが (possessing a long torso). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 소 (Owed, Owning, Possessive, Proprietaries, Proprietary). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | ossessingpay a protecção do património nacional de valor artístico,histórico ou arqueológico (historic or archaelogical value, the protection of national treasures possessing artistic). (various references) mealtainn. (various references) provisto de (devoid, provided with). (various references) innehavande (occupancy, possessory, tenancy). (various references) meddiannol (possessive). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | centenario, centenarios. (various references) |
| Avestan | 200-600 | ashivañt. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | 2 Corinthians Chapter 6, Verse 10 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | WV lupoumenoi aei de caironteV wV ptwcoi pollouV de ploutizonteV wV mhden econteV kai panta kateconteV |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Quasi tristes semper autem gaudentes sicut egentes multos autem locupletantes tamquam nihil habentes et omnia possidentes |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | As sorewful, euere more ioiynge; as hauynge nede, but makynge many men riche; as no thing hauynge, and weldynge alle thingis. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | As sorowynge and yet alwaye mery: as poore and yet make many ryche: as havynge nothynge and yet possessynge all thynges. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | As full of sorrow, but ever glad; as poor, but giving wealth to others; as having nothing, but still having all things. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | 2 Corinthians Chapter 6, Verse 10 |
| Cebuano | ingon nga mga masulob-on, ngani sa kanunay nagamalipayon; ingon nga mga kabus, ngani nagapadato sa daghan; ingon nga mga walay diyot, ngani nakabaton sa tanang mga butang. |
| Croatian | kao žalosni, a uvijek radosni; kao siromašni, a mnoge obogaæujemo; kao oni koji ništa nemaju, a sve posjeduju. |
| Danish | som bedrøvede, dog altid glade; som fattige, der dog gøre mange rige; som de, der intet have, og dog eje alt. |
| Dutch | Als droevig zijnde, doch altijd blijde; als arm, doch velen rijk makende; als niets hebbende, en nochtans alles bezittende. |
| Finnish | murheellisina, mutta aina iloisina, köyhinä, mutta kuitenkin monia rikkaiksi tekevinä, mitään omistamatta, mutta kuitenkin omistaen kaiken. |
| French | comme attristés, et nous sommes toujours joyeux; comme pauvres, et nous en enrichissons plusieurs; comme n`ayant rien, et nous possédons toutes choses. |
| German | als die Traurigen, aber allezeit fröhlich; als die Armen, aber die doch viele reich machen; als die nichts innehaben, und doch alles haben. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Walaupun hati kami disedihkan, namun kami selalu bergembira juga. Kami nampaknya miskin, tetapi kami sudah membuat banyak orang menjadi kaya. Nampaknya kami tidak mempunyai apa-apa, tetapi sebenarnya kami memiliki segala-galanya. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | laksana dukacita, tetapi senantiasa bersukacita; seperti orang miskin, tetapi mengayakan banyak orang; dengan tiada berkepunyaan, tetapi mempunyai sekaliannya. |
| Italian | afflitti, ma sempre lieti; poveri, ma facciamo ricchi molti; gente che non ha nulla e invece possediamo tutto! |
| Latvian | Kâ noskumuði, bet vienmçr priecîgî; kâ trûkumcietçji, bet kas daudzus dara bagâtus; kâ tâdi, kam nekâ nav un tomçr ir viss. |
| Maori | Me te mea e pouri ana, heoi e hari tonu ana; me te mea e rawakore ana, heoi e mea ana i te tokomaha kia whai taonga; me te mea kahore a matou aha, otiia kei a matou nga mea katoa. |
| Norwegian | som bedrøvede, men alltid glade, som fattige, som dog gjør mange rike, som de som intet har og dog eier alt. |
| Portuguese | como entristecidos, mas sempre nos alegrando; como pobres, mas enriquecendo a muitos; como nada tendo, mas possuindo tudo. |
| Rumanian | ca niwte kntristayi, wi totdeauna skntem veseli; ca niwte sqraci, wi totuw kmbogqyim pe mulyi; ca neavknd nimic, wi totuw stqpknind toate lucrurile. |
| Russian | ОБУ ПЗПТЮБАФ, Б НЩ ЧУЕЗ"Б ТБ"ХЕНУС; НЩ ОЙЭЙ, ОП НОПЗЙИ П'ПЗБЭБЕН; НЩ ОЙЮЕЗП ОЕ ЙНЕЕН, ОП ЧУЕН П'МБ"БЕН. |
| Shuar | Kúntuts pujayatrik ii Enentáinkia waraaji; Kuítrinchaitiatrik Chíkich shuar Kuítrintin awajeaji; penké takakchiatrik Ashí Wáinji. |
| Spanish | como entristecidos, pero siempre gozosos; como pobres, pero enriqueciendo a muchos; como no teniendo nada, pero poseyéndolo todo. |
| Swahili | Ingawa tumeadhibiwa, hatukuuawa; ingawa tunayo huzuni, twafurahi daima; ingawa tu maskini hohehahe, lakini twatajirisha watu wengi; twaonekana kuwa watu tusio na chochote, kumbe tuna kila kitu. |
| Swedish | såsom bedrövade, men dock alltid glada, såsom fattiga, medan vi dock göra många rika, såsom utblottade på allt, men likväl ägande allt. |
| Uma | Wori' kasusaa' -kai, aga goe' oa' moto-kai. Kabu-kai, aga kai' -mi to mpokeni rasi' hi wori' tauna. Hiloa-na hewa uma-kai nakariai napa-napa, tapi' kakoo-kono-na ria omea moto-di hi kai' -e. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words ending with "POSSESSING": dispossessing, prepossessing, repossessing, unprepossessing. (additional references) | |
| |
"POSSESSING" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: posessing, Possossona. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "POSSESSING" (pronounced puze"sing) |
| 4 | -e" s i ng | acquiescing, addressing, assessing, blessing, caressing, coalescing, compressing, confessing, depressing, digressing, distressing, dressing, expressing, guessing, impressing, messing, obsessing, oppressing, pressing, professing, progressing, reassessing, recessing, redressing, repressing, stressing, suppressing. |
| 3 | -s i ng | accessing, advancing, affixing, amassing, annexing, announcing, balancing, basing, bouncing, boxing, bracing, busing, bussing, buttressing, bypassing, canvassing, casing, ceasing, chasing, classing, coaxing, coercing, collapsing, commencing, condensing, conferencing, conversing, convincing, coursing, crisscrossing, crossing, cursing, cussing, dancing, debasing, decreasing, defacing, denouncing, diagnosing, disbursing, discussing, dismissing, dispensing, dispersing, displacing, distancing, divorcing, dosing, dousing, dowsing, eclipsing, effacing, embarrassing, embracing, encompassing, endorsing, enforcing, engrossing, enhancing, enticing, erasing, expensing, experiencing, facing, faxing, fencing, financing, fixing, flexing, focusing, forcing, freelancing, fundraising, fussing, gassing, glancing, greasing, grimacing, grossing, grousing, hairdressing, harassing, harnessing, hissing, horsing, icing, increasing, indexing, inducing, influencing, intermixing, introducing, invoicing, kissing, Lancing, lapsing, leasing, lensing, licensing, loosing, massing, menacing, mensing, mincing, missing, mixing, noticing, nursing, outdistancing, outpacing, outsourcing, overproducing, pacing, parsing, passing, perplexing, piecing, piercing, placing, policing, pouncing, practicing, prancing, prejudicing, pricing, processing, producing, promising, pronouncing, pulsing, racing, rebalancing, reducing, referencing, refinancing, refocusing, rehearsing, reimbursing, reinforcing, reintroducing, rejoicing, relapsing, relaxing, releasing, reminiscing, renouncing, replacing, repricing, reprocessing, reproducing, repulsing, repurchasing, resurfacing, retracing, reversing, rinsing, romancing, sacrificing, seducing, sensing, sentencing, sequencing, servicing, showcasing, silencing, slicing, sluicing, sourcing, spacing, spicing, splicing, sprucing, subleasing, surfacing, surpassing, taxing, teleconferencing, tossing, tracing, traipsing, traversing, trespassing, trouncing, unceasing, unconvincing, underpricing, unpromising, vexing, videoconferencing, voicing, waltzing, waxing, wincing, wissing, witnessing, xeroxing. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-g-i-n-o-p-s-s-s-s" | |
-2 letters: sessions. | |
-3 letters: epigons, essoins, gossips, osseins, pigeons, pingoes, possess, session, spinose, sponges. | |
-4 letters: enosis, eosins, epigon, essoin, genips, gipons, gneiss, gnoses, gnosis, gossip, noesis, noises, opines, opsins, ossein, pengos, pigeon, pingos, pisses, pogies, poises, ponies, posies, posing, posses, segnos, sepsis, singes, snipes, soigne, sonsie, speiss, spines, sponge. | |
-5 letters: eosin, genip, gesso, gipon, noise, noses. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-g-i-n-o-p-s-s-s-s" | |
+2 letters: repossessing, sponginesses. | |
+3 letters: dispossessing, prepossessing. | |
+5 letters: prestigiousness, progressiveness, unprepossessing. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)50 4F 53 53 45 53 53 49 4E 47 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).--. --- ... ... . ... ... .. -. --. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01010000 01001111 01010011 01010011 01000101 01010011 01010011 01001001 01001110 01000111 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)P O S S E S S I N G |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0050 004F 0053 0053 0045 0053 0053 0049 004E 0047 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)50495353395353434841 |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Commercial 4. Images: Photo Album | 5. Quotations: Familiar 6. Quotations: Historic 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Quotations: Speeches | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Names: Derived from 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Translations: Ancient 14. Bible Trace 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Orthography 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
