English → Latin
“possess” in Latin
possideōto have, hold, own, possess; to possess lands, have possessions; to take control or possession of, seize, occupyteneōto hold, have; to grasp; to possess, occupy, control; to watch, guard, maintain, defend; to retain, keeppraeditusendowed, gifted, provided with, possessed of something (construed with ablative); placed or set over, presiding over anyīnstruōto build in or into, insert; erect, construct; to arrange, organise or organize, plan; devise; to prepare (for), provideōrnōto furnish, equip, outfit, prepare; to adorn, ornament, decorate; to honor, commend, praiseoccupōto occupy, fill, take up; to seize, invade, take possession of; to anticipate, make the first moveinvādōto enter; to invade; to verbally attack, assail, upbraid, berate, rebuke, castigateincēdōto walk, stride, step, march (along); to walk or move … etc. with divine presence or attributes; to advance (move forwaringeniuminnate or natural quality, natural character; nature; disposition, temper, inclination; intelligence, natural capacity
The English word possess itself goes back to Latin sedeō, through possessus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
possess
possidere; possessionem alicujus rei habere or tenere, in possessione alicujus rei esse (to have some outward good in possession; possidere also, sometimes for, to be endued with a property; e.g., ingenium, magnam vim possidere): habere (to have, general term): tenere (to hold, occupy): praeditum, instructum, ornatum, also affectum esse (figuratively, to be endowed with; the latter especially in a bad sense); inesse alicui or in aliquo esse, esse in aliquo (to reside in anybody, as a property; inesse, with a dative, Sall., Cat., 58, 2; Nep., Epam., 5, 2, etc.; with in, Ter., Eun., 1, 1, 14; Cic., Off., 1, 37, 134, etc.). To express possession of a quality, we frequently find esse with a genitive or ablative; but then the property assigned is not expressed by a simple substantive, but by a substantive in connection with an adjective or adjective pronoun; e.g., we cannot say for, “virtue possesses strength,” virtus est virium; but “virtue possesses so great strength,” virtus est tantarum virium, ut, etc.: Hortensius possessed so strong a memory, that, etc., Hortensius erat tanta memoria, ut, etc.: to possess a share of a thing, alicujus rei esse participem: all cannot possess all things, non omnes omnium participes esse possunt: not to possess a thing, carere aliqua re; alicujus rei esse expertem (to be excluded from): to possess in rich measure, aliqua re abundare; aliqua re valere.
ImPROP., to master, to fill, occupare (e.g., fear possesses anybody or anybody’s mind, timor occupat aliquem; Caes., B.G., 1, 39): invadere (to assault, as it were, the mind; aliquem, in aliquem or alicui: aliquem lubido, metus, terror invadit: furor alicui invadit; vis avaritiae in animum alicujus invadit, Sall.): possidere (e.g., lubido possidet aliquem, Sall.): incessere (aliquem alicui or in aliquem; e.g., admiratio, cupido, timor, indignatio incessit aliquem; cura patribus incessit, Liv., 4, 57; religio in aliquem incessit, Terentianus): possessed with anything, alicujus rei studiosissimus or cupidissimus: to be quite possessed with anything, occupari re or a re (e.g., ab iracundia; cura); studio alicujus rei trahi; cupiditate alicujus rei flagrare; also, poetically, by habere (e.g., terror, ardor, habet mentes, minds are possessed with).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for possess?
- The usual Latin words for “possess” are possideō, teneō, praeditus; also īnstruō, ōrnō, occupō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.