OWN | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of own in English owndeterminer, pronoun uk /əʊn/ us /oʊn/ Add to word list Add to word list A2 belonging to or done by a particular person or thing: Each neighbourhood in New York has its own characteristics. I'd like to have my very own apartment. He wanted an apartment of his own. She makes all her own clothes. I'm going to be out tonight, so you'll have to make your own dinner (= prepare it yourself). Was that your own idea or did someone suggest it to you? You'll have to make up your own mind (= decide by yourself) what you want to do. I'd never have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes/heard it with my own ears. "Is that your mum's car?" "No, it's my own (= it belongs to me)." James Joyce wrote in a style that was all his own (= that was not like that of anyone else). We like to take care of our own (= take care of people who are members of our family, or who work for us).  (all) on your own B1 alone: I like living on my own. B1 mainly UK without any help: I did my buttons up all on my own, Dad . See more  in your own time mainly UK If you do something in your own time, you do it at the speed at which you want to work: I like to do things in my own time - I don't like to be rushed. UK (US on your own time) during the time when you are not officially working: You may only use company computers to access the Web in your own time. See more

• They have no children of their own, but they're hoping to adopt.
• Now you can watch the latest films in the comfort of your own room.
• She said that she didn't want a lawyer and was going to conduct her own defence.
• Her death made him more aware of his own mortality.
• We now have our very own post office in the village.

Particular and individual

• be the very thing idiom
• biomarker
• calling card
• capita
• certain
• individualistic
• individualistically
• individuality
• individualized
• individually
• locally
• matter
• peculiarity
• per capita
• personal gain
• personally
• pet
• private
• regard
• respectively

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Having and owning - general words

See also

someone's (own) flesh and blood

Grammar

OwnOwn is a determiner and a pronoun. …

Idioms

be your own person/woman/man come into your own for its own sake get your own back (on someone) get your own way make something (all) your own on your own head be it ownverb uk /əʊn/ us /oʊn/

own verb (HAVE LEGALLY)

B1 [ T not continuous ] to have something that legally belongs to you: We own our house. I've never owned a suit in my life.

• They own 20% of the company's stock.
• Who owns/holds the copyright on this article?
• She owns a popular tourist restaurant on the town's waterfront.
• The house is partly owned by her father.
• I get a real kick out of owning my own car.

Having and owning - general words

• acquire
• acquisition
• alluvion
• attach
• attach something to something phrasal verb
• be endowed with something idiom
• bore
• fully
• holder
• interest someone in something phrasal verb
• live without something
• lord/master/mistress/king/queen of all you survey idiom
• proprietor
• re-endow
• reclaim
• reside
• reside in something/someone phrasal verb
• revert
• revert to something phrasal verb
• stake

See more results »

own verb (ADMIT)

[ I ] old-fashioned to admit: [ + (that) ] I own (that) I was not very happy with the group's decision. Admitting & confessing

• acknowledge something as something
• acknowledgedly
• acknowledgment
• admission
• admission of guilt
• admittedly
• avowedly
• breastbeating
• clean
• climb down phrasal verb
• hold/put your hands up idiom
• plead guilty
• retract
• retraction
• self-admittedly
• self-confessed
• self-confessedly
• self-confession
• stand
• swallow your words idiom

See more results »

own verb (DEFEAT/DO WELL)

[ T ] mainly US informal to defeat someone completely or be much better than him or her; to perform extremely well: Last time we played them, we owned them! Beyoncé owned that stage tonight! Winning and defeating

• air supremacy
• annihilate
• annihilation
• bank
• be gunning for someone idiom
• blowout
• massacre
• medal
• mincemeat
• moral victory
• move/go/close in for the kill idiom
• scrape
• stomp
• stomp on someone/something phrasal verb
• sweep the board idiom
• take someone down phrasal verb
• take something apart phrasal verb
• thrash
• trouser
• vanquish

See more results »

own verb (ACCEPT)

[ T ] to accept and be responsible for something: It's your life - own it. I own who I was, and so I’m always open to admitting fault and talking through it. Accepting & agreeing

• accept someone’s invitation
• accepting
• accommodation
• accreditation
• agree to something phrasal verb
• arrive
• conclusion
• daresay
• formal
• grumble
• internalize
• occupy the middle ground
• on the nod idiom
• out of alignment
• peace accord
• pounce
• pounce on something phrasal verb
• seal
• strike a chord idiom
• take/pick up the gauntlet idiom

See more results »

Idiom

as if you owned the place

Phrasal verb

own up (Definition of own from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

own | American Dictionary

ownadjective us /oʊn/ Add to word list Add to word list belonging to or done by a particular person or thing: Mary has her own car. You’ll have to fix your own dinner. The police testified that the woman left of her own accord (= she chose to do it without being forced).

Idioms

in your own right on your own ownverb [ T ] us /oʊn/ to have or possess something: We own some property in Texas.

owner

noun [ C ] us /ˈoʊ·nər/ Will the owner of the gray Ford parked in front of the restaurant please move it?

Phrasal verb

own up (Definition of own from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

own | Business English

ownverb [ T ] uk /əʊn/ us Add to word list Add to word list to have something that legally belongs to you: He has owned the business since 1995. The group owns assets worth $620 million. This gave many people the opportunity to own their own home for the first time. to accept responsibility for something such as an idea: For the reorganization to work, employees need to own the idea of change. ownadjective uk /əʊn/ us belonging or relating to a particular person rather than to other people: She started her own business selling cameras. The software helps you create your own website. He invested €5 million of his own money. (Definition of own from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of own

own Indeed, this is a classic book, still owned by many players. From the Cambridge English Corpus His approach to psychopathology was sceptical and philosophical; and he never created his own school of psychiatric, let alone psychopathological, teaching. From the Cambridge English Corpus Here was a version of philosophical commerce closer to our own definition of the word "commerce," yet one intimately related to practice. From the Cambridge English Corpus On the other hand, each form has its own unique onset and rime, which means that no form benefits from phonetic consistency. From the Cambridge English Corpus Instead, the person seeking self-insight must employ a priori causal theories to account for his or her own psychological operations. From the Cambridge English Corpus Moreover, human individuals and institutions "invest," metaphorically, or even literally, in other individuals or institutions to enhance their own returns. From the Cambridge English Corpus Our own compendium takes these into account, adding several revisions and new identifications. From the Cambridge English Corpus The degree is delivered by the institution in which the student is registered, following its own regulations. From the Cambridge English Corpus It presents arguments for the relevance of the child's own production for the building of linguistic representations. From the Cambridge English Corpus However, rural reform has not abolished such ruralism but replaced it with its own version. From the Cambridge English Corpus Parents' own health risk behaviours were correlated with those reported for their children. From the Cambridge English Corpus Some reported a change in their own behavior toward their spouses, such as being more considerate and less argumentative. From the Cambridge English Corpus According to this definition - ideology-as-shorthand - it should have been no more difficult to assess a party's positions than to formulate one's own ideology. From the Cambridge English Corpus The remaining parties agreed to pay their own costs. From the Cambridge English Corpus It helps me to think things through systematically and adopt resolve to take action, and it reminds me of my own past thinking. From the Cambridge English Corpus See all examples of own These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. What is the pronunciation of own?

Translations of own

in Chinese (Traditional) 自己（的），本人（的）, 自己人, 合法擁有… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 自己（的），本人（的）, 自己人, 合法拥有… See more in Spanish propio, poseer, tener… See more in Portuguese próprio, possuir, ter… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian स्वतःची, मालकीचे असणे… See more 自分の, ～を所有する, 所有（しょゆう）する… See more kendi, kendisi, kendine… See more posséder, propre, avouer… See more propi, posseir… See more bezitten, bekennen, eigen… See more ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட நபர் அல்லது விஷயத்தால் சொந்தமானது அல்லது செய்யப்படுகிறது, சட்டபூர்வமாக உங்களுக்கு சொந்தமான ஒன்றை வைத்திருக்க வேண்டும்… See more अपना, किसी खास व्यक्ति या चीज़ से संबंधित या के द्वारा किया हुआ, (कानूनन किसी चीज़ का) स्वामित्व होना… See more પોતાનું, પોતાની માલિકીનું… See more eje, indrømme, egen… See more äga, erkänna, tillstå… See more mempunyai, mengaku, kepunyaan… See more besitzen, eingestehen, eigen… See more eie, egen, innrømme… See more اپنا, اپنی, ملکیت… See more володіти, мати, визнавати… See more సొంతమైన, చట్టబద్ధంగా మీకు చెందినదాన్ని కలిగి ఉండు… See more নিজস্ব, নিজের, নিজস্ব হওয়া বা থাকা… See more mít, vlastnit, uznat… See more memiliki, mengakui, milik… See more เป็นเจ้าของ, ยอมรับ, ที่เป็นของตัวเอง… See more sở hữu, thừa nhận, của chính mình… See more własny, posiadać, przyznać (się)… See more 자신의, 소유하다… See more proprio, possedere, ammettere… See more Need a translator?

Get a quick, free translation!

Translator tool

Browse

owl owlet owlish owlishly own own brand own goal own up phrasal verb own-label {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of own

• co-own
• own goal
• part-own
• self-own
• own brand
• own-brand
• own brand noun, at own-brand

See all meanings

• own up phrasal verb

See all phrasal verb meanings

• in your own right idiom
• on your own idiom
• (all) on your own phrase
• my own phrase
• call something your own phrase
• at your own risk phrase
• be your own boss phrase

See all idioms and phrases

Word of the Day

runny

UK /ˈrʌn.i/ US /ˈrʌn.i/

more liquid than usual

About this

Blog

Walk a mile in my shoes (Words about empathy)

March 11, 2026 Read More

New Words

fail watching March 09, 2026 More new words has been added to list To top AI Assistant Contents EnglishAmericanBusinessExamplesTranslations AI Assistant {{#displayLoginPopup}} Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Learn more with +Plus

Sign up for free and get access to exclusive content: Free word lists and quizzes from Cambridge Tools to create your own word lists and quizzes Word lists shared by our community of dictionary fans Sign up now or Log in Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Learn more with +Plus

Create word lists and quizzes for free Sign up now or Log in {{/displayLoginPopup}} {{#displayClassicSurvey}} {{/displayClassicSurvey}}

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus
• My profile
• +Plus help
• Log out

AI Assistant Dictionary Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English Translations Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Bilingual Dictionaries English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English English–Danish Danish–English English–Dutch Dutch–English English–French French–English English–German German–English English–Indonesian Indonesian–English English–Italian Italian–English English–Japanese Japanese–English English–Norwegian Norwegian–English English–Polish Polish–English English–Portuguese Portuguese–English English–Spanish Spanish–English English–Swedish Swedish–English Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese Translate Grammar Thesaurus Pronunciation Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Games {{userName}}

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus
• My profile
• +Plus help
• Log out

Log in / Sign up English (UK) Change English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी Follow us Choose a dictionary

• Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}}
• Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
• Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus
• Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation
• Translation Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Bilingual Dictionaries
  • English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
  • English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
  • English–Danish Danish–English
  • English–Dutch Dutch–English
  • English–French French–English
  • English–German German–English
  • English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
  • English–Italian Italian–English
  • English–Japanese Japanese–English
  • English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
  • English–Polish Polish–English
  • English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
  • English–Spanish Spanish–English
  • English–Swedish Swedish–English
  Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese
• Dictionary +Plus Word Lists

Choose your language English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी Contents

• English   
  • Determiner, pronoun 
    • own
    • (all) on your own
    • in your own time
  • Verb 
    • own (HAVE LEGALLY)
    • own (ADMIT)
    • own (DEFEAT/DO WELL)
    • own (ACCEPT)
• American   Adjective
  • Verb 
    • own
  • Noun 
    • owner
• Business   VerbAdjective
• Examples

• Translations
• Grammar
• All translations

My word lists

To add own to a word list please sign up or log in.

Sign up or Log in My word lists

Add own to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

{{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

Something went wrong.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{name}} More Go to your word lists {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

Something went wrong.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} Tell us about this example sentence: The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! Your feedback will be reviewed. {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

There was a problem sending your report.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! Your feedback will be reviewed. {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

There was a problem sending your report.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}}