Owner – definition and meaning

An owner is somebody who owns something. However, not all owners are people. For example, a holding company is the owner of its subsidiary firms. Also, the government, which is not a human being, in most countries owns some companies. Owners are parties that possess the exclusive right to use, benefit from, transfer or convey, and hold properties or assets.

If I am the owner of something, it means that it belongs to me.

In contracts, the owners are those who award the contracts for projects. They undertake to pay contractors. We often refer to them as contract owners.

In a company, the owner may be an executive or employee who has principal responsibility for a project, program, or process.

Many words that end with the letters ‘o-w-n-e-r’ refer to some type of ownership. For example, a landowner owns land, a shipowner owns a ship, and a homeowner owns a home.

CollinsDictionary.com has the following definition of the term:

“The owner of something is the person to whom it belongs.”

Owner - explanation of meaning with examples
If you are the owner of something, it is yours. In other words, it belongs to you. It is your possession.

Owner – many types

Ownership comes in many forms. For example, ownership of property may be common, collective, or private. The property may be land, a building, an object, or intellectual property. Intellectual property refers to slogans, trademarks or patents, i.e., creations of the mind.

Determining who the owners of things are in law involves determining who have certain duties and rights over properties.

We can gain ownership of a property in one of many ways:

  • – By purchasing the property with money.
  • – Receiving something as a gift.
  • – Winning something in a bet.
  • – Inheriting something after somebody dies.
  • – Receiving something as damages.
  • – Making something.
  • – Trading something for something else.
  • – It is also possible to gain ownership of something by performing services or doing work.

We can cease being owners of things by losing them, through foreclosures, and seizures. We can also cease ownership as a result of an eviction. Additionally, we may give something away, lose it in a bet, or bequeath it to somebody.

Video – what is an owner?

In this video, Andrew Hier, from the Cambridge Institute for Family Enterprise, talks about ownership. In fact, ownership is not just one thing. It is a ‘bundle of rights.’