owner
(ˈəʊnə(r))
Forms: α. 4 oȝenere, 5 ownere, (5 ownour, 5–6 owener), 5– owner. β. 5 awener, (awenner), 5–7 awner, (7 awiner).
[f. own v. + -er1.]
a. One who owns or holds something as his own; a proprietor; one who has the rightful claim or title to a thing (though he may not be in possession); spec. one who owns a race-horse. Also (slang), the captain of a warship, barge, or other boat; also of an aircraft. So owneˈress, the captain's wife.
| 1340 Ayenb. 37 Zuych is þe zenne..of ham of religion þet byeþ oȝeneres, uor hi behoteþ to libbe wy[þ]-oute oȝninge. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 345 Þinges..beeþ now more i-wasted in glotenye and outrage of honures [v. rr. ouners, owneres, L. possessorum]. 1432 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 390 The seide Merchauntz..aweners of the seid Merchaundisez. c 1489 Plumpton Corr. 84 The awenners of the same cattell. 1491 Act 7 Hen. VII c. 2 §5 Suche persons as the same feoffoure or ownour shall depute and assigne. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 24, I am thair only awner, Lord and maister. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 64 Worthy the Owner, and the Owner it. 1631 Tyninghame Sess. Rec. in Ritchie Ch. St. Baldred (1880) 226 The awiners of the seittis wer not willing heirto. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia x. iv, She now lived upon an estate of which she no longer was the owner. 1844 Williams Real Prop. (1877) 17 No man is in law the absolute owner of lands. He can only hold an estate in them. 1863 Chambers's Encycl. V. 428/2 The income of a jockey..is often very large: {pstlg}1000 has frequently been given by a grateful owner. 1898 A. E. T. Watson Turf v. 124 The winner of a selling race has..to be sold by auction; the owner receives no more than the entered selling price. 1903 Kipling Traffics & Discov. (1904) 49 I'm goin' to deviate to the owner's comfortable cabin direct. 1914 ‘Bartimeus’ Naval Occasions iii. 21 That there launch precious near fouled the mark-buoy... Their owner sailing 'er too. 1916 G. Taylor With Scott 213 Scott was invariably known as The Owner, a naval term always applied to the captain of a warship. 1923 Blackw. Mag. Apr. 445/2 The Owner and Owneress have a very jolly little cabin. 1930 in C. Allen Raj (1977) ix. 123 Cricket. Owners, Trainers and Jockeys, Vs. Patrons, Stewards and Officials. 1943 C. H. Ward-Jackson Piece of Cake 45 Owner, the Commanding Officer, the captain of an aircraft. 1971 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Doctor Bird xiii. 192 Johnson slept for an hour. I left the wheel to go into the owner's cabin to rouse him. 1977 D. Francis Risk ii. 14 Binny, Tapestry's trainer, didn't want me on the horse. ‘Not in the Gold Cup,’ he'd said..when the owner had proposed it. |
b. attrib. and
Comb. appositive, as
owner-breeder,
owner-driver,
owner-manager,
owner-occupant,
owner-occupier,
owner-operator; also
owner-occupation,
owner-occupiership;
owner-driven,
owner-managed,
owner-occupied adjs.| 1937 E. Rickman On & off Racecourse i. 4 The most successful *owner-breeders are in the game because they have a genuine love of the thoroughbred and of the sport. 1971 Daily Tel. 20 Oct. 17/4 Sir Humphrey, the fourth baronet, owner-breeder of Parthia, the 1959 Derby winner. |
| 1919 Honey Pot I. iii. 4 (Advt.), For immediate delivery. Daimler 57-hp special..*owner driven. 1960 Amer. Speech XXXV. 240 In truckers' language a ‘gypsy’ is an owner-driven truck. |
| 1918 A. Bennett Pretty Lady xxxi. 214 The interior of the cab,..was ornate with toy⁓curtains..to indicate to the world that he was an *owner-driver. 1924 Morris Owner Mar. 20/1 A sympathetic understanding of his car and of road-craft by an owner-driver..makes for more pleasurable motoring. 1963 Times 23 May 8/3 Last year there were 7,000 cabs in London, and 10,400 drivers, of whom 2,919 were owner-drivers. 1972 Police Rev. 17 Nov. 1484/1 In the case of haulage firms, and in particular the owner-driver..it pays to overload. |
| 1891 Ibid. 10 Jan. 3/1 Where that which the Board of Agriculture call ‘*owner-farming’ is common. |
| 1972 Accountant 5 Oct. 411/3 Independent ‘*owner-managed’ business as distinct from the large multi⁓national corporations. |
| 1965 H. I. Ansoff Corporate Strategy iv. 62 During the high-growth phase of the electronics industry many new firms were started by *owner-managers. 1967 C. Margerison in Wills & Yearsley Handbk. Managem. Technol. 18 While they were never entirely a law unto themselves, the owner-managers of the nineteenth century were largely role-determining actors—they were able to control their factories and affairs very much in the manner that they wished. |
| 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 26 Sept. B2/3 Residual lending activities of CMHC in the *owner-occupant market appear to have increased. |
| 1958 Ann. Reg. 1957 71 The slowing up of the property market, especially in the sale of houses for *owner-occupation. 1970 Daily Tel. 16 Mar. 11/1 The change-over to owner-occupation really began to show about 1920, when some 20 per cent. of the land was in the hands of those who farmed it. |
| 1952 Time 9 June 66 (Advt.), Here in Philadelphia, the percentage of *owner-occupied homes is greater than in any other large city in America..greater than the national average. 1960 Times 23 May 3/5 Northern Ireland is a country of small farms, mainly owner-occupied. 1961 E. A. Powdrill Vocab. Land Planning iii. 44 This recognition is evolved from a study of the age and condition of buildings, densities, incidence of owner-occupied properties, and rateable values. 1972 M. Jones Life on Dole xi. 84 The old houses are, in general, owner-occupied. |
| 1935 Planning II. xliii. 2 There are for example the approaches of State ownership at the one extreme, and of sub-division among many thousands of small *owner-occupiers at the other extreme. 1958 New Statesman 4 Jan. 7/3 Here and there an enterprising tenant, owner-occupier or determined landlord has repaired and repainted and the contrast is startling. 1971 Reader's Digest Family Guide to Law 460/1 An owner-occupier..does not pay capital gains tax on the sale of his home. 1974 Times 8 Aug. 18/7 It is questionable whether any public interest is served by requiring owner-occupiers to let commercial and factory premises where they have ceased to use them for their own purposes. |
| 1924 Glasgow Herald 28 Nov. 9 As to *owner-occupiership, the figures were..encouraging. |
| 1957 E. Bott Family & Social Network 161 *Owner-operator of a small tobacco and sweet shop. 1971 M. Tak Truck Talk 114 Owner-operator, a trucker who both owns and drives his rig. 1976 Woman's Day (N.Y.) Nov. 50/2 ‘You can do damage if you don't replace a radiator cap..correctly,’ warns Jim Gottfredsen, longtime owner-operator of Gup's West Side Service in Racine, Wisconsin. |
| 1885 Daily News 14 Oct. 6/1 The *owner vote must be given at municipal elections. |