Pos*ses"sion (?), n. [F.
possession, L. possessio.] 1. The
act or state of possessing, or holding as one's own.
2. (Law) The having, holding, or
detention of property in one's power or command; actual seizin or
occupancy; ownership, whether rightful or wrongful.
&fist; Possession may be either actual or constructive; actual,
when a party has the immediate occupancy; constructive, when he has
only the right to such occupancy.
3. The thing possessed; that which any one
occupies, owns, or controls; in the plural, property in the aggregate;
wealth; dominion; as, foreign possessions.
When the young man heard that saying, he went away
sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Matt.
xix. 22.
Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a
possession.
Acts v. 1.
The house of Jacob shall possess their
possessions.
Ob. 17.
4. The state of being possessed or controlled,
as by an evil spirit, or violent passions; madness; frenzy; as,
demoniacal possession.
How long hath this possession held the
man?
Shak.
To give possession, to put in another's power
or occupancy. -- To put in possession.
(a) To invest with ownership or occupancy; to
provide or furnish with; as, to put one in possession of
facts or information. (b) (Law) To
place one in charge of property recovered in ejectment or writ of
entry. -- To take possession, to enter
upon, or to bring within one's power or occupancy. --
Writ of possession (Law), a precept
directing a sheriff to put a person in peaceable possession of
property recovered in ejectment or writ of entry.
Pos*ses"sion, v. t. To invest with
property. [Obs.]
