possessedadj.n.
/pəˈzɛst/, U.S. /pəˈzɛst/ A. adj.
1. Held as property; owned, occupied; taken as property, seized, assumed. Now chiefly literary and poetic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > [adjective] > possessed
possesseda1500
a1500 tr. A. Chartier Quadrilogue (Rawl.) (1974) 170 The policie of vs Frenschmen may be likenyd to the feble householder which sparpelith and wastith his possessid [c1475 Univ. Oxf. present; Fr. presente] substaunce afore a newe prouision had.
?1555 Image of Idlenesse Pref. sig. Aiii Uenus of late..lost two degrees, and halfe of her possessed preemynence.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) iii. f. 172 Absence shall not take thee from mine eyes.., nor a possessed harte shall keepe thee from the place it hath for euer allotted vnto thee.
1606 W. Warner Continuance Albions Eng. xiv. lxxxii. 344 More to theyr proper Elements inaugurated none, Than shee to hers by-passed, he to his possessed Throne.
1616 J. Lane Contin. Squire's Tale ix. 23 Her possessd greatnes, vpstart vsurpation.
1844 R. W. Emerson Essays 2nd Ser. i. 17 It is a secret which every intellectual man quickly learns, that, beyond the energy of his possessed and conscious intellect, he is capable of a new energy..by abandonment to the nature of things.
1852 H. Melville Pierre xv. 310 Any young lady, who should prove her claim to the possessed hand of Pierre.
1972 S. Heaney New Sel. Poems (1990) 34 Whose fault, I wondered, inquisitor of the possessed air.
1995 M. Peacock Orig. Love 51 It bolts around the room and falls, exhausted, down into the possessed happiness of its selfhood.
2.
a. Inhabited and controlled by a demon or spirit; lunatic, mad. Frequently predicative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [adjective] > possessed
demoniacc1405
demoniaclec1500
obsessed1531
fanatical1569
possessed1577
demoniacal1588
demonical1629
demonized1778
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > evil spirit or demon > [adjective] > possessing > possessed by
demoniacc1405
demoniaclec1500
devilleda1557
bedevilled1574
possessed1577
devilished1583
through-devilled1586
demoniacal1588
inspiritate1600
demonical1629
spirited1667
energumenical1684
demonized1778
obsessed1845
1577 M. Hanmer tr. Bp. Eusebius in Aunc. Eccl. Hist. vii. xxx. 142 By nature possessed and frenticke.
1602 W. Basse Sword & Buckler sig. B3v Vp starts his sire as bedlim or possest.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. i. 33 I saw an old..Frier coniuring the Diuell out of a possessed woman.
1727 J. Gay Fables I. iii. 10 She saw the Nurse, like one possest, With wringing hands, and sobbing breast.
1861 G. W. Thornbury Life J. M. W. Turner II. 227 There were some strange weird clouds introduced, which had something demoniacal and possessed about them.
1934 R. Graves I, Claudius xxix. 415 He's mad. He always was. But he's worse than mad now. He's possessed.
1966 New Statesman 15 Apr. 537/1 The moment the election was won he [sc. Mr. Wilson] was ‘pragmatising’ around the place like a man possessed.
1995 Times 7 July 6/7 The Rev Andrew Arbuthnot..allegedly performs exorcisms involving the ‘cleansing’ of possessed women at his London Healing Mission.
b. U.S. like all possessed: with great force, vehemence, energy, or spirit. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > acting vigorously or energetically [phrase] > with great vigour or energy
with (also in) mood and maineOE
vigour13..
with or by (all one's) might and mainc1330
with (one's) forcec1380
like anything1665
hammer and tongs1708
like stour1787
(in) double tides1788
like blazes1818
like winking1827
with a will1827
like winky1830
like all possessed1833
in a big way1840
like (or worse than) sin1840
full swing1843
like a Trojan1846
like one o'clock1847
like sixty1848
like forty1852
like wildfire1857
like old boots1865
like blue murder1867
like steam1905
like stink1929
like one thing1938
like a demon1945
up a storm1953
1833 S. Smith Life & Writings Major Jack Downing lxiii. 209 [He] struck his fists together like all possessed.
1857 Putnam's Monthly Mag. Jan. 45 He'd carry on like all possessed—dance and sing, and tell stories.
1881 Harper's Mag. Apr. 644 That old minister..is a-fiddling away like all possessed at the dance.
1916 E. H. Porter Just David xxii. 280 He danced and laughed and clapped his hands,..an' carried on like all possessed.
1927 M. de la Roche Master of Jalna (1928) i. 10 I do wish he'd mend my roof, which leaks into the best room like all possessed every time it rains.
1952 Mt. Pleasant (Iowa) News 13 Dec. 2/1 We tore down that runway like all possessed.
3. As the second element in instrumental compounds: dominated, controlled, or affected by a specified influence or agent.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > belief, trust, confidence > act of convincing, conviction > [adjective] > persuaded, convinced > by dominant or single idea
possessedc1620
one-ideaed1825
one-idea1845
single track1919
monoideal1922
c1620 Convert Soul in E. Farr Sel. Poetry Reign James I (1848) 89 Peace, catiffe body, earth possest.
1680 J. Quarles Self-conflict 62 As with an iron pen I find it in my fear-possessed mind Deeply engraven.
1711 Brit. Apollo 31 Jan.–2 Feb. My..wo-possessed Heart.
1811 W. Dimond Gustavus Vasa ii. iv. 45 Ah! me, perchance in such a cell as this, even so drear! so woe-possessed, my gallant one..may conceal his persecuted head.
1884 A. T. de Vere Poet. Wks. VI. 64 As one demon-possessed He glared upon that youth; his wan cheek burned.
1987 F. Flagg Fried Green Tomatoes 18 The Lord had told her that her husband was evil and devil-possessed, and she turned him in to the revenue agents.
1995 M. Garber Vice Versa ii. viii. 213 Men can argue in a very womanish way, too, when they are anima-possessed and have thus been transformed into the animus of their own anima.
4. Kept calm or steady, composed. Cf. self-possessed adj. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > calmness > self-possession or self-control > [adjective]
coolc1430
coldc1500
within oneself (itself, etc.)1518
cool-headed1684
present to oneself1692
possesseda1698
self-restrained1700
self-collecteda1711
cool (cold) as a cucumbera1732
self-possessing1732
self-regulating1755
cool-brained1765
self-possessed1766
self-restraining1777
self-disciplined?1791
self-controlling1796
self-repressed1814
self-controlled1822
self-contained1838
self-repressing1849
unimpulsive1856
posé1858
downbeat1953
cucumber-cool1955
supercool1965
a1698 [see possessedness n. at Derivatives].
1897 G. P. Lathrop Yaddo 8 Say why—so calm, possessed—thou wilt not wait?
1984 T. Clark Paradise Resisted 161 I see in postoperative dreams icy tranquilities, the calm, possessed eyes of laboratory animals, which show their time is come, yet never waver because they no longer close.
B. n.
A possessed person or thing; esp. (with the and plural agreement) people possessed by a demon or spirit as a class; lunatics, demoniacs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > possession > person
demoniacc1405
diabolicalc1547
phantic1605
possessed1657
demonomaniac1831
diaboleptic1879
theoleptic1881
1534 Bible (Tyndale rev. Joye) Matt. viii. 33 What had fortuned vnto the possessed of the devyls.
1594 R. Holland Holie Hist. Lord & Saviour iii. 54 Christ cast out a deuill at Capernaum, and diliuered the possessed from that infirmitie.
1632 Swed. Intelligencer I. 11 He would use it, as the Devill did the Possessed.
1657 A. Sparrow Rationale Bk. Common Prayer (1661) 249 After this the Catechumens, the possessed and the penitents are dismissed.
1691 A. Gavin Frauds Romish Monks (ed. 3) 367 I was astonish'd to see the Liberty this young Gentleman took with his Possessed.
1854 H. H. Milman Hist. Lat. Christianity I. iii. vii. 472 A poor peasant receives the possessed into his house.
1877 J. A. Heraud Uxmal vi. 125 The possessed, mistaking friends for foes, Will strike the weapon she is armed withal Into the heart of him she best has loved.
1983 P. Ackroyd Last Test. Oscar Wilde 39 In his conversation he had the strange clarity of the possessed.
1990 L. Picknett Encycl. Paranormal 100/1 The possessed did not merely speak as if a devil was speaking through them, but acted the part—or parts.
Derivatives
poˈssessedness n. rare
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > calmness > self-possession or self-control > [noun]
repressiona1413
governailc1425
willc1480
self-rule1532
coldness1548
stay1556
presentness of mind1598
coolness1607
cold blooda1609
temper1611
self-discipline1612
retention?1615
presence of mind?1624
self-governance1630
retentiveness1641
self-command1651
self-mastery1652
self-control1653
self-direction1653
self-restraint1656
self-possession1665
possessednessa1698
self-regulation1698
possession1703
retenue1747
sang-froid1750
self-collection1761
render1768
self-collectedness1805
self-repression1821
self-containedness1835
unimpulsiveness1860
cool-headedness1881
sophrosyne1889
cool1964
a1698 W. Row Suppl. in R. Blair Life (1848) (modernized text) x. 265 A man of most calm temper with great possessedness and stayedness of Spirit.
1971 J. Gardner Grendel xi. 158 For even my mama loves me not for myself, my holy specialness.., but for my son-ness, my possessedness, my displacement of air as visible proof of her power.
1994 H. Burton Leonard Bernstein i. viii. 79 He was a man from whom radiance emanated, ‘possessed by music, by the ideas and ideals of music..[ellipses in text] a man whose possessedness came at you like cosmic rays’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.a1500