*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of own

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-Europ

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
adj

Belonging to; possessed; acquired and designated by; proper to; property of; titled to; held in one's name; under/using the name of. Often marks a possessive determiner as reflexive, referring back to the subject of the clause or sentence. · Not shared. · Peculiar, domestic. · Not foreign.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Root classification mention*h₂eyḱ-ine-pro
  • Derivation mentionounenm
  • Derivation mentionāgenang · own, proper, peculiar
  • Derivation mention*aigangmw-pro · own
  • Derivation mention*aiganazgem-pro · own
  • Derivation mention*h₂eyḱ-ine-pro · to have, possess
  • Cognate mentionainsco
  • Cognate mentionoainstq · own
  • Cognate mentioneginfo · own
  • Cognate mentioneiginis
  • Cognate mentioneigennn · own
  • Cognate mentionисынos · to take
  • Cognate mentionईशsa · owning, possessing
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*h₂eyḱ-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "oun"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English oun"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "āgen",
        "t": "own, proper, peculiar"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English āgen (“own, proper, peculiar”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*aigan",
        "t": "own"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *aigan (“own”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*aiganaz",
        "t": "own"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *aiganaz (“own”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*h₂eyḱ-",
        "t": "to have, possess"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyḱ- (“to have, possess”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "dbt",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "eigen-"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of eigen-"
    },
    {
      "name": "col-top",
      "args": {
        "1": "2",
        "2": "cog"
      },
      "expansion": "Cognates"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sco",
        "2": "ain"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots ain"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "stq",
        "2": "oain",
        "t": "own"
      },
      "expansion": "Saterland Frisian oain (“own”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy,nl,de",
        "2": "eigen",
        "t": "own"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian, Dutch, and German eigen (“own”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da,nb,sv",
        "2": "egen",
        "t": "own"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Swedish egen (“own”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fo",
        "2": "egin",
        "t": "own"
      },
      "expansion": "Faroese egin (“own”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "eigin"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic eigin"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nn",
        "2": "eigen",
        "t": "own"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk eigen (“own”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "os",
        "2": "исын",
        "t": "to take"
      },
      "expansion": "Ossetian исын (isyn, “to take”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "xto,txb",
        "2": "aik-",
        "t": "to know, recognize"
      },
      "expansion": "Tocharian A and Tocharian B aik- (“to know, recognize”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sa",
        "2": "ईश",
        "t": "owning, possessing"
      },
      "expansion": "Sanskrit ईश (īśa, “owning, possessing”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "m+",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "owe"
      },
      "expansion": "English owe"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "oun",
      "oun#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "owen",
      "owen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "āgen",
      "agen#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "āgan",
      "agan#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*aigan",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/aigan"
    ],
    [
      "*aiganaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/aiganaz"
    ],
    [
      "*h₂eyḱ-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂eyḱ-"
    ],
    [
      "eigen-",
      "eigen-#English"
    ],
    [
      "ain",
      "ain#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "awin",
      "awin#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "awn",
      "awn#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "ayn",
      "ayn#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "oain",
      "oain#Saterland_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "West Frisian",
      "eigen#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "Dutch",
      "eigen#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "eigen",
      "eigen#German"
    ],
    [
      "Danish",
      "egen#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "egen#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
    [
      "egen",
      "egen#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "egin",
      "egin#Faroese"
    ],
    [
      "eigin",
      "eigin#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "eiginn",
      "eiginn#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "eigen",
      "eigen#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "исын",
      "исын#Ossetian"
    ],
    [
      "Tocharian A",
      "aik-#Tocharian_A"
    ],
    [
      "aik-",
      "aik-#Tocharian_B"
    ],
    [
      "ईश",
      "ईश#Sanskrit"
    ],
    [
      "owe",
      "owe#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Belonging to; possessed; acquired and designated by; proper to; property of; titled to; held in one's name; under/using the name of. Often marks a possessive determiner as reflexive, referring back to the subject of the clause or sentence.",
        "Not shared.",
        "Peculiar, domestic.",
        "Not foreign."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable",
        "obsolete"
      ],
      "recordId": "65107a3e87b7ad8e1b93516609ad8a31808735ffb8f8da004b205a8b2f6a931d",
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  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
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    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
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  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
verb

To have rightful possession of (property, goods or capital); to have legal title to; to acquire a property or asset. · To have recognized political sovereignty over a place, territory, as distinct from the ordinary connotation of property ownership. · To defeat or embarrass; to overwhelm. · To virtually or figuratively enslave.

noun

A crushing insult.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 10 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "wp",
      "args": {},
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*h₂eyḱ-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "back-formation",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "owner",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "back-formation from owner"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "āgnian"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English āgnian"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "eigenen"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch eigenen"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "eignen"
      },
      "expansion": "German eignen"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "ägna"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish ägna"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "owner",
      "owner#English"
    ],
    [
      "āgnian",
      "agnian#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "eigenen",
      "eigenen#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "eignen",
      "eignen#German"
    ],
    [
      "ägna",
      "ägna#Swedish"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To have rightful possession of (property, goods or capital); to have legal title to; to acquire a property or asset.",
        "To have recognized political sovereignty over a place, territory, as distinct from the ordinary connotation of property ownership.",
        "To defeat or embarrass; to overwhelm.",
        "To virtually or figuratively enslave."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive",
        "informal"
      ],
      "recordId": "6562674aafa3a74aecaccd0e41bbb2ec86e18ba810ec24bc5c29dff1ef87ab90",
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 147618
    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A crushing insult."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Internet"
      ],
      "recordId": "da87f33b3074fd1a30ed6315abbe76e0e5522b15fab3d2e4743383a86ebf291d",
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  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 10,
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}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for own →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-b3du