喜樂美語

核心畫面

Picture something in your hands right now - it is yours to hold, and nobody else can use it while you have it. That is possession: not a feeling, not a right on paper, but the plain fact of holding. Once you see it as holding rather than owning, the strange uses fall into place - a team holds the ball, a country holds an island, and in old stories a spirit holds a person.

可以想成 possession 的畫面比較像「東西現在在你手上」：只要在你手上，別人就用不到。它講的不是感情，也不是…更多收起可以想成 possession 的畫面比較像「東西現在在你手上」：只要在你手上，別人就用不到。它講的不是感情，也不是紙上的權利，而是「握著」這個很素的事實。一旦你把它看成「握著」而不只是「擁有」，那些奇怪的用法就都通了——球隊握著球、國家握著一座島，而在老故事裡，是某種力量握住了一個人。

From the word’s history

From Latin possidere 'to have and hold, hold in one's control, be master of', probably from potis 'having power, able' + sedere 'to sit' - originally a legal term used about land, i.e. sitting on a piece of ground as its master. From the 1530s English also used it of a spirit having complete power over someone.

來自拉丁文 possidere（握住、掌控、當主人），一般認為由 potis（有力量的）加 sedere（坐）組成，最早是講土地的法律用語——像是坐在一塊地上、當它的主人。這條線把幾個看似無關的意思串起來了：坐著佔住一塊地就是「屬地」，而 1530 年代開始，英文也用它講某種力量完全佔住一個人，也就是中文的「附身」。

Etymonline, 'possess' (etymonline.com/word/possess)

Five branches

握在手上的狀態

這一組就是核心畫面本身：東西此刻在誰手上。包括球場上那一瞬間的球權，也包括那句「已經在手上的最難拿走」的老話。

possession (ownership) · noun · B2

The state of having or owning something, or of having got it from somewhere.

擁有；持有

握著的那些東西

從「握著」這個狀態，跳到「握著的東西」本身。英文常這樣一字兩用：同一個字既指狀態，也指狀態裡的那個物件。

a possession (belonging) · noun · B2

Something that you own or have with you, especially one of the things you keep.

財產；所有物

法律眼中的「身上帶著」

同樣是「東西在你身上」，只是這次法律在看。possidere 本來就是法律用語，這個意思等於回到它的老本行。

illegal possession · noun · B2

The crime of having something with you that the law does not allow, such as banned items.

非法持有

一個國家握住的地方

把握著的東西從物品換成土地、把握的人從個人換成國家，就是這個用法。拉丁原字本來講的就是土地，所以這一支其實離源頭最近。

colonial possession · noun · B2

A country or area that is held and controlled by another country.

屬地；殖民地

被握住的人

最後一步，握著的對象變成人的心智。有人被別的東西握住，就是附身；反過來說，自己還握著自己的腦袋，就是神智清醒。

possession (supernatural control) · noun · B2

A situation in a story or belief where something is thought to control a person's mind.

附身

原始詞典資料10 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

possessionnoun/pəˈzɛʃn̩/

  • 1

    A control or occupancy of something for which one does not necessarily have private property rights.

    • Once complete, guide rails will be installed inside the tunnels ready for the box jack itself - which NR intends to push into place during a nine-day engineering possession in September, following a trial push in late August. [...] A small number of weekday and weekend possessions will also be required on June 20-21, September 5-6, and between December 19-March 2021, [...]
  • 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

    An ownership; a taking, a 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.
    • How long hath this possession held the man?
  • 6

    The condition of being under the control of strong emotion or madness.

  • 7

    hobbieslifestylesportsA 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.
    • Their first half was marred by the entire side playing too deep, completely unable to build up any form of decent possession once the ball left their bewildered defence.
  • 8

    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.
另外 1 個記錄的用法
  • 9

    human-scienceslinguisticssciencesA 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.

possessionverb/pəˈzɛʃn̩/

  • 1

    obsoleteTo invest with property.

資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。