Word.ws English Dictionary

possession is nine-tenths of the law

possession is nine-tenths of the law proverb: one who has possession of a thing has some right to it; a popular statement of the doctrine of adverse possession.

Proverb

possession is nine-tenths of the law

  1. One who has possession of a thing has some right to it; a popular statement of the doctrine of adverse possession.

Forms of possession is nine-tenths of the law

alternative formpossession is nine points of the law

Origin of possession is nine-tenths of the law

From possession is nine points of the law.

Questions about possession is nine-tenths of the law

What does possession is nine-tenths of the law mean?
Possession is nine-tenths of the law means one who has possession of a thing has some right to it; a popular statement of the doctrine of adverse possession.
What part of speech is possession is nine-tenths of the law?
Possession is nine-tenths of the law is a proverb.

Words near possession is nine-tenths of the law in the dictionary

  1. possessingness
  2. possession
  3. possession arrow
  4. possession arrows
  5. possession is nine points of the law
  6. possession is nine-tenths of the law
  7. Possession Island
  8. possession with intent to supply
  9. possession with the intent to supply
  10. possessional
  11. possessional adjective

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: possession is nine-tenths of the law (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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