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To obtain occupation or possession of; to accomplish; to gain; to seize. How . . . to possess the purpose they desired. Spenser.

Of or pertaining to possession; having or indicating possession. Possessive case (Eng. Gram.), the genitive case; the case of nouns and pronouns which expresses ownership, origin, or some possessive relation of one thing to another; as, Homer's admirers; the pear's flavor; the dog's faithfulness. -- Possessive pronoun…

Of or pertaining to possession, either as a fact or a right; of the nature of possession; as, a possessory interest; a possessory lord. Possessory action or suit (Law), an action to regain or obtain possession of something. See under Petitory.

A previous liking; a prepossession of mind in favor of something; predisposition to choose or like; partiality. Burke.

Prejudice; prepossession. [Obs.] Sir. H. Blount.

The act or right of taking possession before another; as, the preoccupancy of wild land.

The act of preoccupying, or taking possession of beforehand; the state of being preoccupied; prepossession.

To take possession of before another; as, to preoccupy a country not before held.

Opinion previously formed; prepossession; prejudice. Sir T. Browne.

To preoccupy, as ground or land; to take previous possession of. Dryden.

exclusive or peculiar privilege; prior and indefeasible right; fundamental and essential possession; -- used generally of an official and hereditary right which may be asserted without question, and for the exercise of which there is no responsibility or accountability as to the fact and the manner of its exercise. Th…

f title to a thing by virtue immemorial use and enjoyment; the right or title acquired by possession had during the time and in the manner fixed by law. Bacon. That profound reverence for law and prescription which has long been characteristic of Englishmen. Macaulay.

To pass over, esp. in a ceremonious manner; to give in charge or possession; to deliver; to make over. So ladies in romance assist their knight, Present the spear, and arm him for the fight. Pope.

Prejudice; prepossession. [A Gallicism] Dryden.

night's fee, to receive of the heir, if of full age, one year's profits of the land if in possession, and half a year's profits if the land was in reversion expectant on an estate for life; -- now abolished. Blackstone.

Anything worth striving for; a valuable possession held or in prospect. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Phil. iii. 14.

To bring into possession; to cause to accrue to, or to come into possession of; to acquire or provide for one's self or for another; to gain; to get; to obtain by any means, as by purchase or loan. If we procure not to ourselves more woe. Milton.

Belonging to one; one's own; individual. "His proper good" [i. e., his own possessions]. Chaucer. "My proper son." Shak. Now learn the difference, at your proper cost, Betwixt true valor and an empty boast. Dryden.

That to which a person has a legal title, whether in his possession or not; thing owned; an estate, whether in lands, goods, or money; as, a man of large property, or small property.

One who has the legal right or exclusive title to anything, whether in possession or not; an owner; as, the proprietor of farm or of a mill.