To possess something is to own it or have it as yours. It can also mean to have a quality, ability, or feeling inside you.
“Possess” comes from Latin *possidēre*, from *potis* (“able, powerful”) + *sedēre* (“to sit”), originally meaning “to sit as master of” something. Over time it came to mean simple ownership or control.
The idea behind “possess” is literally “sit on it like the boss,” which shows how ownership is linked to power. That’s also why in stories about spirits, a ghost that “possesses” someone is taking over the ‘seat’ of their body and mind.
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