Possesser

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An individual who has acquired and maintains some item, right, or quality demonstrates ownership or authority over it
2. A person recognized for having control, rights, or possession of a particular entity is termed a holder
3. A person who has control or ownership over an object or property

Etymology: "Possesser" is simply a spelling variant of "possessor," and both are built from "possess" plus the suffix "-or," which marks someone or something that performs an action. The verb "possess" came into English from Old French "possesser," which in turn grew from Latin "possidere," meaning "to hold, occupy, or settle upon," a sense rooted in "sedere," "to sit." So the idea behind owning was originally one of physically sitting down on land or property. The Latin agent suffix "-tor," which English adopted as "-or," has a long pedigree of its own, tracing back through Latin and Old French, so the noun simply announces that it names the person doing the holding. The agent ending was attached to "possess" in English, producing "possessor" with a clear meaning: whoever holds or owns something.

Synonyms: holder, owner, bearer

Antonyms: loser, dispossessor