own

own · adjective¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₂eyḱ-“to have, possess”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*aiganaz“own”
3. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*aigan“own”
4. Old English · derived fromāgen“own, proper, peculiar”
5. Middle English · derived fromoun
6. English todayown

From Middle English oun, owen, from Old English āgen (“own, proper, peculiar”), originally the past participle of āgan; from Proto-West Germanic *aigan (“own”), from Proto-Germanic *aiganaz (“own”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyḱ- (“to have, possess”). Doublet of eigen-. Cognates Cognate with Scots ain, awin, awn, ayn (“own”), Saterland Frisian oain (“own”), West Frisian, Dutch, and German eigen (“own”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Swedish egen (“own”), Faroese egin (“own”), Icelandic eigin, eiginn (“own”), Norwegian Nynorsk eigen (“own”); also Ossetian исын (isyn, “to take”), Tocharian A and Tocharian B aik- (“to know, recognize”), Sanskrit ईश (īśa, “owning, possessing”). Originally past participle of the verb at hand in English owe.

own · verb, noun²

A back-formation from owner. Compare Old English āgnian, Dutch eigenen, German eignen, Swedish ägna.

Words from the same roots