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The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.
1. Owning or mastering something. Used with of:one who is possessed of great wealth.
2.
a. Controlled by a spirit, demon, god, or other supernatural force.
b. Controlled by a strong inner drive; obsessed:possessed by love; possessed with rage.
3. Calm; collected:one who remained possessed in times of great trial.
Usage Note: When the adjective possessed means "owning a thing, exhibiting an attribute," it is followed by the preposition of: possessed of property; possessed of a sharp tongue. When possessed means "obsessed," by or with follows: possessed by (or with) an urge to kill.
Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:
The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.