English → Latin
“possession” in Latin
possessiōthe act of taking possession of, seizing, occupying, taking; the act of holding; possession, occupation, control, occupaoccupōto occupy, fill, take up; to seize, invade, take possession of; to anticipate, make the first movecapiōto take, to capture, to catch, to seize, to take captive, to storm; to take on, adopt; to hold, to containcomprehendōto lay hold of something on all sides; take or catch hold of, grasp, grip; to seize upon in a hostile manner, lay hold o
The English word possession itself goes back to Latin sedeō, through possessio.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
possession
The act of possessing, occupancy, possessio: to take possession, gain or obtain possession of anything, potiri aliqua re, or aliquam rem, or alicujus rei (to get into one’s power; ☞ the genitive, except in the expression rerum potiri, appears to be used, in good prose, only when the object of attainment or of possession is a person; the ablative when it is a thing; the accusative when it is a town, a place, etc.; Vid: Beier, Cic., Off., 2, 23, 81; Bremi, Cic., Fat., 14, p. 31): occupare (to take, seize; PROP. and figuratively): capere (to catch, a person; to take, a town, etc.): in ditionem or sub potestatem suam redigere (to bring under one’s power): aliquid in se trahere (to draw to one’s self; e.g., munia senatus, Tac., Ann., 1, 2, 1). To get possession of anyone, capere, comprehendere, arripere aliquem: possidere aliquem (figuratively, brevi tempore totum hominem possesserat; Cic., Verr., 2, 3, 68): to put one’s self quickly in possession of, in possessionem alicujus rei involare (unjustly): to give a person possession of the goods of another, mittere aliquem in possessionem bonorum alicujus; immittere aliquem in alicujus bona: to put a person again in possession of a thing, possessionem alicujus rei restituere alicui: to put anyone out of possession, de possessione dimovere et dejicere; possessione deturbare, depellere: to remain in possession of a thing, in possessione alicujus rei manere or permanere; rem in possessione sua retinere: to come into possession of a thing, in possessionem alicujus rei venire; (again) possessionem amissum recuperare: to give up possession, possessione cedere, decedere; illa villa solius tua (you have sole possession of).
Property possessed, possessio. To have great possessions, magnas possessiones habere (general term); agros or latifundia habere (in landed property).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for possession?
- The usual Latin words for “possession” are possessiō, occupō, capiō; also comprehendō. 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.