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

To prepossess; to prejudice. [Obs.] Sir H. Wotton.

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.

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.

To hold out the appearance of being, possessing, or performing; to profess; to make believe; to feign; to sham; as, to pretend to be asleep. "[He] pretended to drink the waters." Macaulay.

made, whether true or false; a right alleged or assumed; a holding out the appearance of possessing a certain character; as, pretensions to scholarship. This was but an invention and pretension given out by the Spaniards. Bacon. Men indulge those opinions and practices that favor their pretensions. L'Estrange.…

Prejudice; prepossession. [A Gallicism] Dryden.

Illustrating, possessing, or characterized by, some quality or property in the first degree; having undergone the first stage of substitution or replacement. Primary alcohol (Organic Chem.), any alcohol which possess the group CH2.OH, and can be oxidized so as to form a corresponding aldehyde and acid having the same n…

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.

Not sacred or holy; not possessing peculiar sanctity; unconsecrated; hence, relating to matters other than sacred; secular; -- opposed to sacred, religious, or inspired; as, a profane place. "Profane authors." I. Disraeli. The profane wreath was suspended before the shrine. Gibbon.

Well advanced in any branch of knowledge or skill; possessed of considerable acquirements; well-skilled; versed; adept,

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.

Possessing property; holding real estate, or other investments of money. "The propertied and satisfied classes." M. Arnold.

The exclusive right of possessing, enjoying, and disposing of a thing; ownership; title. Here I disclaim all my paternal care, Propinquity and property of blood. Shak. Shall man assume a property in man Wordsworth.