Meanings
present singular third person dispossesses · participle present dispossessing · participle past dispossessed · past dispossessed
- To deprive someone of the possession of land, especially by evicting them.
- To deprive someone of possession in general.
Though Mars himſelfe the angry God of armes, And all the earthly Potentates conſpire, To diſpoſſeſſe me of this Diadem: Yet wil I weare it in deſpight of them As great commander of this Eaſtearne world, […]
c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act (please specify |act=II or III), scene vii - hobbiesTo take possession of the ball/puck etc. (from someone).
It was Bannan who released Agbonlahor for his goal with a long-range curling pass after Stephen Warnock had dispossessed Mohamed Diame.
2011 October 1, John Sinnott, “Aston Villa 2 - 0 Wigan”, in BBC Sport
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Middle Frenchdespossesser
- Middle English[Term?]
- Englishdispossess
From Middle English [Term?], from Middle French despossesser. Equivalent to dis- + possess.
More words from Middle English, Middle French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French déposséder (de)
- déposséder (de)deprive someone of possession in general
Spanish desposeer, despojar
- desposeerdeprive someone of possession in general
- despojardeprive someone of possession in general
Cite this entry
dispossess. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dispossess
“dispossess.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dispossess. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dispossess,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dispossess.
Source: dispossess on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.