different between treasure vs possession

English

Alternative forms

• treasuer (chiefly archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English tresour, from Old French tresor (“treasury”), from Latin th?saurus (“treasure”), from Ancient Greek ???????? (th?saurós, “treasure house”). Displaced native Middle English schat. Doublet of thesaurus.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?t????/, /?t??????/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?t????/
• Hyphenation: treas?ure
• Rhymes: -???(?)

Noun

treasure (countable and uncountable, plural treasures)

1. (uncountable) A collection of valuable things; accumulated wealth; a stock of money, jewels, etc.
2. (countable) Anything greatly valued.

   • Ye shall be peculiar treasure unto me.

   • 1681, Nahum Tate, The History of King Lear

     I found the whole to answer your Account of it, a Heap of Jewels, unstrung and unpolisht; yet so dazling in their Disorder, that I soon perceiv'd I had seiz'd a Treasure.

   • 1946, Ernest Tubb, Filipino Baby

     She's my Filipino baby she's my treasure and my pet

     Her teeth are bright and pearly and her hair is black as jet

3. (countable) A term of endearment.
   • 1922, Francis Rufus Bellamy, A Flash of Gold

     "Hello, Treasure," he said without turning round. For a second she hesitated, standing in the soft light of the lamp, the deep blue of the rug making a background for her, the black fur collar of her coat framing the vivid beauty of her face.

Related terms

• treasury

Translations

Verb

treasure (third-person singular simple present treasures, present participle treasuring, simple past and past participle treasured)

1. (transitive, of a person or thing) To consider to be precious; to value highly.

   Oh, this ring is beautiful! I’ll treasure it forever.

   • 1838, Eliza Cook, "The Old Armchair", in Melania and other Poems

     I LOVE it, I love it ; and who shall dare

     To chide me for loving that old Arm-chair ?

     I've treasured it long as a sainted prize ;

     I've bedewed it with tears, and embalmed it with sighs.

2. (transitive) To store or stow in a safe place.
   • 1825, Walter Scott, The Talisman

     The rose-buds, withered as they were, were still treasured under his cuirass, and nearest to his heart.

3. (transitive, obsolete) To enrich.

Synonyms

• (to consider to be precious): cherish

Antonyms

• (to consider to be precious): despise

Translations

Derived terms

Anagrams

• austerer, treasuer

English

Etymology

From Latin possessi?, possessi?nis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p??z???n/
• Rhymes: -???n

Noun

possession (countable and uncountable, plural possessions)

1. Control or occupancy of something for which one does not necessarily have private property rights.
2. Something that is owned.

   The car quickly became his most prized possession.

   I would gladly give all of my worldly possessions just to be able to do that.

3. Ownership; taking, holding, keeping something as one's own.

   The car is in my possession.

   I'm in possession of the car.

4. A territory under the rule of another country.

   Réunion is the largest of France's overseas possessions.

5. The condition or affliction of being possessed by a demon or other supernatural entity.

   Back then, people with psychiatric disorders were sometimes thought to be victims of demonic possession.
6. The condition of being under the control of strong emotion or madness.
7. (sports) Control of the ball; the opportunity to be on the offensive.

   The scoreboard shows a little football symbol next to the name of the team that has possession.
8. (Australian rules football) A disposal of the ball during a game, i.e. a kick or a handball.
   • 2019 In the mix: Who's pushing for selection for round eight? Australian Football League, 7 May 2019. Accessed 7 May 2019.

     Defender Colin O'Riordan had 41 possessions in the NEAFL last week to continue his outstanding form, while Ryan Clarke had 47 in the Swans' big loss to Brisbane.

9. (linguistics) A syntactic relationship between two nouns or nominals that may be used to indicate ownership.

   Some languages distinguish between a construction like 'my car', which shows alienable possession — the car could become someone else's — and one like 'my foot', which has inalienable possession — my foot will always be mine.

Usage notes

• One who possesses is often said to have possession (of), hold possession (of), or be in possession (of).
• One who acquires is often said to take possession (of), gain possession (of), or come into possession (of).

Synonyms

• ight (obsolete)
• (taking, holding, keeping something as one's own): owndom, retention
• See also Thesaurus:property

Antonyms

• (taking, holding, keeping something as one's own): absence

Hyponyms

• mortmain

Translations

Verb

possession (third-person singular simple present possessions, present participle possessioning, simple past and past participle possessioned)

1. (obsolete) To invest with property.

French

Etymology

From Latin possessionem (nominative of possessio)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p?.s?.sj??/

Noun

possession f (plural possessions)

1. possession

Derived terms

• prendre possession

Further reading

• “possession” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).