Search the Dictionary

To go into or upon, as lands, and take actual possession of them.

Inspiration as if by a divine or superhuman power; ecstasy; hence, a conceit of divine possession and revelation, or of being directly subject to some divine impulse. Enthusiasm is founded neither on reason nor divine revelation, but rises from the conceits of a warmed or overweening imagination. Locke.…

oved or actuated by enthusiasm; as: (a) One who imagines himself divinely inspired, or possessed of some special revelation; a religious madman; a fanatic. (b) One whose mind is wholly possessed and heated by what engages it; one who is influenced by a peculiar; fervor of mind; an ardent and imaginative person. Enthusi…

s; as, the entrance of a person into a house or an apartment; hence, the act of taking possession, as of property, or of office; as, the entrance of an heir upon his inheritance, or of a magistrate into office.

The actual taking possession of lands or tenements, by entering or setting foot on them.

ed account, in which each thing is specially noticed. Because almost every man we meet possesses these, we leave them out of our enumeration. Paley.

One who envies; one who desires inordinately what another possesses.

r's excellence or good fortune, accompanied with some degree of hatred and a desire to possess equal advantages; malicious grudging; -- usually followed by of; as, they did this in envy of Cæsar. Envy is a repining at the prosperity or good of another, or anger and displeasure at any good of another which we want, or a…

Anything which takes possession of the minds of people as an epidemic does of their bodies; as, an epidemic of terror.

Possessing or exhibiting equity; according to natural right or natural justice; marked by a due consideration for what is fair, unbiased, or impartial; just; as an equitable decision; an equitable distribution of an estate; equitable men. No two . . . had exactly the same notion of what was equitable. Macaulay.…

That comparative quantity by weight of an element which possesses the same chemical value as other elements, as determined by actual experiment and reference to the same standard. Specifically:

translated bittern, and in the Revised Version, porcupine. I will make it [Babylon] a possession for the ericius and pools of waters. Is. xiv. 23 (Douay version).

A ferment extracted from madder root, possessing the power of inducing alcoholic fermentation in solutions of sugar.

A writ, now abolished, to recover escheats from the person in possession. Blackstone.

A property which a person possesses; a fortune; possessions, esp. property in land; also, property of all kinds which a person leaves to be divided at his death. See what a vast estate he left his son. Dryden.

To divert from its original use or purpose, or from its former possessor; to alienate. They . . . have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods. Jer. xix. 4.

Equable; not easily ruffed or disturbed; calm; uniformly self- possessed; as, an even temper.

give to thee, and to thy seed after thee . . . the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. Gen xvii. 8. And heard thy everlasting yawn confess The pains and penalties of idleness. Pope.

To dispossess by a judicial process; to dispossess by paramount right or claim of such right; to eject; to oust. The law of England would speedily evict them out of their possession. Sir. J. Davies.

ing; or state of being evicted; the recovery of lands, tenements, etc., from another's possession by due course of law; dispossession by paramount title or claim of such title; ejectment; ouster.