| 释义 |
▪ I. possession, n.|pəˈzɛʃən|
Forms: 4– possession; also 4–6 -ioun, -ione, -yon, (4 -ioune, 5 -yone, 6 -yowne); (4 possescyon, 5 possesioon, poscescon, 7 pocessyon, 6 -ion).
[a. OF. possessiun, -on (12th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. L. possessiō-nem seizing, occupation, n. of action f. possidēre: see possede, possess.]
1. a. The action or fact of possessing, or condition of being possessed (see possess 1, 2); the holding or having something (material or immaterial) as one's own, or in one's control; actual holding or occupancy, as distinct from ownership.
a1340Hampole Psalter xv. 6 Merkis of my possession. 1390Gower Conf. I. 276 And yaf therto possessioun Of lordschipe and of worldes good. 1473Rolls of Parlt. VI. 91/2 To the Patronage or Possession of the Chirch of Prescote. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 150 But also haue sure felynge, tastynge, possessyon, and fruicyon of his goodnes. 1605Verstegan Dec. Intell. iv. (1628) 91 To obtaine possessions of the whole Ile. 1690Locke Treat. Govt. ii. v. §38 The same measures governed the Possession of Land too. 1813M. Edgeworth Patron. xviii, I am not one of those exigeante mothers who expect always to have possession of a son's arm. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 185 Philosophy is the possession of knowledge.
b. Law. The visible possibility of exercising over a thing such control as attaches to lawful ownership (but which may also exist apart from lawful ownership); the detention or enjoyment of a thing by a person himself or by another in his name; the relation of a person to a thing over which he may at his pleasure exercise such control as the character of the thing admits, to the exclusion of other persons; esp. the having of such exclusive control over land, in early instances sometimes used in the technical sense of seisin.
In the Roman Law, ‘possession is usually said to consist of two elements—physical control and intention to possess; but in English law the latter element does not assume the same prominence as, in the shape of the animus domini, it has been thought to assume in Roman law... The general rule of English law is that exclusive physical control gives legal possession, unless the apparent possessor holds only as servant or bailiff on behalf of another’ (J. M. Lightwood in Encycl. Laws Eng. (1898) X. 229). Primarily, the term denotes a state of fact, but this fact carries with it legal advantages, and so is the source of rights. If the state of fact could always be ascertained with certainty, and if it always produced the normal legal effects, the subject of possession would present little difficulty; but it is frequently uncertain to whom the actual control of a thing is to be attributed, and, when this question is settled, the law may credit the advantages of possession to some person other than the apparent possessor... Hence arises the distinction between actual and legal possession. Actual possession denotes the state of fact; but the person to whom are credited the advantages of possession has the legal possession, whether he is the actual possessor or no. Legal possession, when not accompanied by possession in fact, is known as ‘possession in law’. (Ibid. 228–9.) See this article; also (inter alia), Essay on Possession in the Common Law by F. Pollock and R. S. Wright, 1888, Treatise on Possession of Land by John M. Lightwood, 1894.
1535Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 10 Every such person..shall hensforth stond and be seasid demed and adjuged in lawfull season estate and possession of and in the same. 1559Rec. Monast. Kinloss (1872) 151 We chairg..you..to pas to the..landis..And ther gif him stait and possessioun be thak and raip as wse is. 1579Expos. Termes Law 158 Possession is said two wayes, eyther actuall possession, or possession in law. Actuall possession is when a man entreth in deede into landes or tenements to him discended or otherwise. Possession in lawe, is when landes or tenements are discended to a man, and he hath not as yet really, actually, and in deede entred into them. 1706Phillips, Unity of Possession, is when the Possession, or Profit is united with the Property. Thus, if the Lord purchase the Tenancy held by Heriot-Service, then the Heriot is extinct by Unity of Possession, i.e. because the Seignory or Lordship and the Tenancy are now in one Man's Possession. 1766Blackstone Comm. II. xxv. 389 First then of property in possession absolute; which is where a man hath, solely and exclusively, the right, and also the occupation, of any moveable chattels. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) III. 330 The first degree of title is the bare possession, or actual occupation of the estate, without any apparent right, or any pretence of right, to hold and continue such possession. 1837Baron Parke in Meeson & Welsby Rep. II. 331 Ownership may be proved by proof of possession, and that can be shown only by acts of enjoyment of the land itself. 1861J. Kent Comm. Amer. Law (1873) II. xxxix. 493 Though the vendee acquires a right of property by the contract of sale, he does not acquire a right of possession of the goods until he pays or tenders the price. 1885W. A. Hunter Roman Law 209 Possession is the occupation of anything with the intention of exercising the rights of ownership in respect of it. 1887Ld. FitzGerald in Law Rep. 12 App. Ca. 556 By possession is meant possession of that character of which the thing is capable. 1888Pollock & Wright Possession in Com. Law 1 As the name of Possession is..one of the most important in our books, so it is one of the most ambiguous. Its legal senses (for they are many) overlap the popular sense. Ibid. 26 The following elements are quite distinct in conception..i. physical control, detention, or de facto possession... ii. legal possession, the state of being a possessor in the eye of the law... iii. Right to possess or to have legal possession. Ibid. 27 Right to possess, when separated from possession, is often called ‘constructive possession’. Ibid. 58 A servant in charge of his master's property, or a person having the use of anything by the mere licence of the owner..generally has not possession. 1894J. M. Lightwood Possession of Land 2 Possession which is recognized by the law..is known as civil possession. The actual possession may be held by another on behalf of the civil possessor—by his servant or tenant, for example—and here the civil possession is still based on actual possession. 1898― in Encycl. Laws Eng. X. 232 A person holding land as a tenant for years is denied the special form of legal possession known as seisin. The English law, however, differing herein from the Roman law, does not refuse legal possession to bailees. Ibid. 236 In the case of goods..the mere right to possession is sometimes described as ‘constructive possession’, and is allowed the advantages of actual possession.
c. Phr. in possession: said (a) of a thing, actually possessed or held; often with possessive, in (one's) possession; (b) of a person, usually in possession of, actually possessing, holding, or occupying something. chose in possession: see chose. man in possession, a duly authorized person who is placed in charge of chattels (furniture or the like) upon which there is a warrant for distress. to take possession of († take in possession): to take for one's own or into one's control, to seize; see also take v. 71. Conversely, to give possession.
[1308–9Rolls of Parlt. I. 274/2 Mettre le dit nich' en corporele possession del avauntdit provendre.] c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 239 Þe londes þat þei haue now in possessioun. 1390Gower Conf. I. 26 Cirus..tok it in possessioun. a1400Morte Arth. 2608 Of Alexandere and Aufrike, and alle þa owte landes, I am in possessione, and plenerly sessede. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 13 He hathe Millan nowe in possession. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 417 The Queenes maiestie, nowe in possession of the English empire. 1603Owen Pembrokeshire (1892) 85 Any lande..beinge in the pocession of the Churche. 1771Junius Lett. lxvii. (1820) 333 He loses the very property of which he thought he had gotten possession. 1849Illustr. London News 22 Dec. 406/1 Dan Sheedey and five or six men come to tumble my house; they wanted me to give possession. I said that I would not. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xxiv. 169, I had now the thermometers in my possession. 1886B. L. Farjeon Three Times Tried i. 13/2, I..left Captain Bellwood in possession of the field. 1888Pollock & Wright Possession in Com. Law 119 When a man is away from home his household effects do not cease to be in his possession. 1897Daily News 10 Dec. 3/2 (heading) The ‘Man in Possession’. Ibid., Defendant's man during the nine days only visited the house once a day and did not remain in possession. 1898J. M. Lightwood in Encycl. Laws Eng. X. 237 In possession: as applied to an estate or interest, these words usually mean that the right is immediate, and not in reversion, remainder, or expectancy.
d. Prov. possession is nine (formerly eleven) points (also parts) of the law: see point n.1 A. 12.
1650B. Discolliminium 13 Possession may be 11 points of the Law. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull iv. iii, Possession..would make it much surer. They say ‘it is eleven points of the Law!’ 1813M. Edgeworth Patron. (1833) III. xli. 130 Possession.. being nine parts of the law.
e. Mining (Derbyshire): see quots.
1653E. Manlove Lead Mines (E.D.S.) 9 A cross and hole a good possession is, But for three dayes. 1681Houghton Rara Avis Gloss. (E.D.S.), Possession, the right to a meer of ground, which miners enjoy, by having stows upon that ground; and it is taken generally for the stows themselves; for it is the stows that give possession. 1802Mawe Min. Derbysh. Gloss. (E.D.S.), Stowces, pieces of wood of particular forms and constructions placed together, by which the possession of mines is marked.
f. U.S. colloq. ellipt. for ‘possession of narcotic drugs’.
1970N.Y. Times Mag. 15 Feb. 19/1 John E. Ingersoll..suggested that the penalty for simple possession for personal use be reduced to that of a misdemeanor. 1973R. L. Simon Big Fix x. 71 What's a few years in the cooler for possession. 1977D. E. Westlake Enough! i. 21 Her freak got busted on possession and went away for an extended rest.
†2. The action of seizing or possessing oneself of; capture: see possess v. 3. Obs. rare.
1748Anson's Voy. ii. ix. 231 Our future projects..with a view to the possession of this celebrated galeon.
3. concr. That which is possessed or held as property; (with a, etc.) a thing possessed, a piece of property, something that belongs to one; pl. belongings, property, wealth.
a1340Hampole Psalter ii. 8, I sall gif til þe genge þin heritage: & þi possession terms of erth. 1388Wyclif Matt. xix. 22 The ȝong man..wente awei sorewful, for he hadde many possessiouns. [1429Act 8 Hen. VI, c. 9 Ceux qi gardent par force lour possessions en ascuns terres on tenementz.] 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) IV. 155 Thei occupiede the londes and possessiones of mony other peple. 1538Starkey England i. iii. 77 Such an idul sort, spendyng theyr possessyonys. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 729 Masham, which was the possession of the Scropes of Masham. 1841James Brigand ii, Beauty is a woman's best possession till she be old. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) l. 434 One of your possessions, an ox or an ass, for example.
b. In Scotland, A small farm: see quot. 1805.
1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 511 The lanes include between them the breadth of two possessions only. 1805Forsyth Beauties Scotl. I. 519 [The farms] run from {pstlg}30 to {pstlg}1200, if below {pstlg}30, they are called possessions.
4. A territory subject to a sovereign ruler or state; now chiefly applied to the foreign dominions of an independent country.
1818J. Adolphus (title) The Political State of the British Empire; containing a General View of the Domestic and Foreign Possessions of the Crown. 1850H. Martineau Hist. Peace II. v. xii. 377 Canada became a British possession in 1763. 1888Pall Mall G. 13 Sept. 4/1 British New Guinea has very rapidly developed from the position of a protectorate into that of a possession. 1905Whitaker's Almanack 512 The British Possessions in North America include the whole of the northern part of that continent excepting Alaska [etc.].
5. The fact of a demon possessing a person; the fact of being possessed by a demon or spirit (see possess v. 5). Also in Psychics: see quot. 1903.
1590Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 44 How long hath this possession held the man? 1651Hobbes Leviath. i. viii. 38 Neither Moses, nor Abraham pretended to Prophecy by possession of a Spirit. 1689C. Mather (title) Memorable Providences relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions. 1746Wesley Princ. Methodist 51 If you were to suppose John Haydon..was not mad, but under a temporary Possession. 1846Trench Mirac. v. (1862) 158 The same malady they did in some cases attribute to an evil spirit, and in others not; thus showing that the malady and possession were not identical in their eyes. 1903Myers Hum. Personality I. Gloss., Possession, a developed form of motor automatism, in which the automatist's own personality disappears for the time, while there is a more or less complete substitution of personality, writing or speech being given by another spirit through the entranced organism.
6. The action of an idea or feeling possessing a person (see possess v. 6); transf. an idea or impulse that holds or affects one strongly; † a dominating conviction, prepossession (obs.).
1621T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 76, I come now to speake of anger and choller, which commonly keepe possession in old men. 1728Vanbr. & Cib. Prov. Husb. i. i. 3, I have a strong Possession, that with this five hundred, I shall win five thousand. 1826New Monthly Mag. XVI. 508 Old ideas still keep possession of old heads. 1867Longfellow in Life (1891) III. 103, I have worked steadily on it, for it took hold of me,—a kind of possession.
7. The action or condition of keeping (oneself, one's mind, etc.) under control (see possess v. 4). rare exc. in the compound self-possession.
a1703Burkitt On N.T. Luke xxi. 19 As faith gives us the possession of Christ, so patience gives us the possession of ourselves. 1710Steele Tatler No. 168 ⁋4 To acquire such a Degree of Assurance, as never to lose the Possession of themselves in publick or private. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. 237, I have need of that calm possession of my understanding,..necessary to convince yours. 1871R. Ellis Catullus xxxv. 12 She, if only report the truth bely not, Doats, as hardly within her own possession.
8. attrib. and Comb. possession-man = man in possession: see 1 c; possession order, an order made by a court of law directing that possession of a property be given to the owner.
1772Doc. Hist. N. York (1851) IV. 803 The Weak pretence of Hutts hastily Built on small Spotts of Ground which they Term possession Houses. 1871Tylor Prim. Cult. xiv. II. 115 The opinion that the possession-theory is..modelled on the ordinary theory of the soul acting on the body. 1891Daily News 1 Jan. 2/6 He and ‘a possession man’ went with a warrant of execution to levy on the defendant's goods for a debt and costs of over 7l. 1897Ibid. 28 Apr. 6/5 He was on drinking terms with every process-server and possession-man about the place. 1971Times 24 June 3/8 Southwark council was granted possession orders against nine families squatting in eight properties in the borough in a High Court action. 1973Times 11 Dec. 8/4 He granted a possession order to the GLC. The women took over the house..three weeks ago. 1977F. Branston Up & Coming Man ii. 17 Their large Edwardian semi-detached (three mortgages, possession orders pending on two of them).
▸ Sport (orig. U.S.). Temporary control of the ball, puck, etc., by a particular player or team; a period of such control. Also more generally: the extent of a team's control of the ball, etc., or resulting dominance in a match.
1887Outing 11 89/2 It is the main object of the rusher, when he is on the move, to obtain possession of the ball and to keep it in the hands of his side as much of the time as possible. 1906D. Gallaher & W. J. Stead Compl. Rugby Footballer iv. 55 When the time comes that the man in possession of the ball finds himself in or approaching difficulty, he should transfer possession. 1935Encycl. Sports 358/1 The player in possession of the puck slides it along the ice with his stick, and..endeavours to hit it between his opponents' goal posts. 1951Sport 30 Mar. 6/3 A great kick-through by Cunliffe gave the home side possession a few yards from the line. 1976Washington Post 19 Apr. d4/4 The Bucks ran the 24-second shot clock down to two seconds in their next possession as Jim Price fired up a wild 25-foot shot and missed. 1994People (Electronic ed.) 24 Apr. Linfield dominated possession and could have scored several more times. 2001Evening News (Edinb.) (Nexis) 7 Apr. 3 On 57 minutes, a dreadful pass by Corrigan gave possession to Sylla who sent Lowndes scurrying towards goal.
▪ II. † possession, v. Obs. rare—1.
[f. prec. n.]
trans. To furnish with possessions.
1602Carew Cornwall 132 b, Sundry more Gentlemen this little Hundred possesseth and possessioneth. |