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Possess vs Endow - What's the difference?

possess | endow |

As verbs the difference between possess and endow

is that possess is to have; to have ownership of while endow is to furnish with money or its equivalent, as a permanent fund for support; to make pecuniary provision for; to settle an income upon; especially, to furnish with dower; as, to endow a wife; to endow a public institution.

possess

English

Verb

(es)
  • To have; to have ownership of.
  • * 1818 , (Mary Shelley), (Frankenstein) , Volume 3, Chapter 7:
    • [...], the companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds, which hardly any later friend can obtain.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
    • , chapter=1 citation , passage=He read the letter aloud. Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement.}}
  • To take control of someone's body or mind, especially in a supernatural manner.
  • To vest ownership in (someone); to give someone power or knowledge; to acquaint; to inform.
  • * 1599 , (William Shakespeare), (Much Ado About Nothing) ,
    • LEONATO. I cannot bid you bid my daughter live;
    That were impossible; but, I pray you both,
    Possess the people in Messina here
    How innocent she died;
  • * 1599 , (William Shakespeare), (Twelfth Night) , II, 3
    • [Sir Toby Belch] Possess' us, '''possess' us ; tell us something of him.

    Quotations

    *

    Synonyms

    * seise * (qualities or characteristics) inhold

    endow

    English

    Alternative forms

    * indow (archaic)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To furnish with money or its equivalent, as a permanent fund for support; to make pecuniary provision for; to settle an income upon; especially, to furnish with dower; as, to endow a wife; to endow a public institution.
  • To enrich or furnish with anything of the nature of a gift (as a quality or faculty); — followed by with, rarely by of; as, man is endowed by his Maker with reason; to endow with privileges or benefits.
  • To bestow freely.
  • To be furnished with something naturally.
    • She was'' ''endowed'' ''with a beautiful voice.

    Synonyms

    * (l)

    Derived terms

    * endowment

    Related terms

    * (l) * (l) * (l)

    Anagrams

    * * * *