ownership

ownership own‧er‧ship [ˈəʊnəʆɪp ǁ ˈoʊnər-] noun [uncountable]

COMMERCE the state of owning something:

• Car ownership by teenagers tripled during the decade.

• Home ownership is more common in Britain than in Europe generally.

• Limited partnerships give holders an ownership interest (= partial ownership ) in assets such as office buildings or oil fields.

ˌabsolute ˈownership LAW

when someone owns something completely, without restrictions:

• To develop the area for housing required the absolute ownership of the site by one man or corporation.

ˌbeneficial ˈownership FINANCE

the state of really owning an investment, rather than holding the investment for the real owner:

• Regulators should have the right to look into the beneficial ownership of suspicious or nominee shareholdings.

ˌcommon ˈownership also ˌownership in ˈcommon

1. COMMERCE when ownership is shared by two or more people or organizations

2. FINANCE the ownership of companies

cross-ˌmedia ˈownership ECONOMICS COMMERCE

when an organization owns more than one type of media company, for example a newspaper and a television station:

• There are strict government rules on cross-media ownership.

ˌcross-ˈownership ECONOMICS COMMERCE

when a company in one industry owns a company in another related industry:

• Italy limits cross-ownership of television stations and newspapers.

emˌployee ˈownership COMMERCE

when the people who work for a company or part of a company own it:

• He believes in employee ownership and said all employees will have a chance to buy equity in the company.

ˌforeign ˈownership COMMERCE

when a company is owned by a foreign company:

• Federal law bars foreign ownership of a US airline of more than 25%.

ˌfractional ˈownership FINANCE

when two or more people or companies buy and share an asset:

• With fractional aircraft ownership, you gain all the advantages of owning an aircraft at a fraction of the cost of sole ownership.

ˌfull ˈownership COMMERCE

when one person or organization owns all of a company, property etc, rather than just part of it:

• It took over full ownership of 'Parenting' magazine, where it initially had a half-interest.

ˌgovernment ˈownership also ˌpublic ˈownership, ˌstate ˈownership ECONOMICS

when a company is owned by the government:

• The party traditionally has supported government ownership of some companies.

ˌjoint ˈownership COMMERCE

when a company, property etc has two or more owners:

• Under the joint ownership arrangement, most decisions required approval of both partners.

maˌjority ˈownership FINANCE

when one person or group owns more than 50 per cent of the shares of a company

miˌnority ˈownership FINANCE

when one person or group owns less than 50 per cent of the shares of a company:

• It has minority ownership in seven other agencies.

ˌpart ˈownership also part-ownership, ˌpartial ˈownership FINANCE

when an investor owns part of a company's shares:

• Desperate for cash, they signed an agreement giving him part ownership in the company.

ˌprivate ˈownership ECONOMICS

when a company is owned by people or organizations that are not part of the government of a country:

• The Chinese government wants to transfer these companies into private ownership.

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ownership UK US /ˈəʊnəʃɪp/ noun [U]

► the state or fact of owning something: under sb's ownership »

The business has been under the same ownership for 44 years.

home/property ownership »

The spiralling cost of housing has pushed home ownership beyond the reach of many people.

share/stock ownership »

The organization promotes wider share ownership.

take/acquire/retain ownership of sth »

Earlier this year the group took 51% ownership of the financial services unit.

»

State-owned railways were taken into private ownership.

► the fact of taking responsibility for an idea or problem: »

We need someone to take ownership of the issue.

→ See also ABSOLUTE OWNERSHIP(Cf. ↑absolute ownership), BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP(Cf. ↑beneficial ownership), COMMON OWNERSHIP(Cf. ↑common ownership), CROSS-MEDIA OWNERSHIP(Cf. ↑cross-media ownership), CROSS-OWNERSHIP(Cf. ↑cross-ownership), EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP(Cf. ↑employee ownership), FOREIGN OWNERSHIP(Cf. ↑foreign ownership), FRACTIONAL OWNERSHIP(Cf. ↑fractional ownership), FULL OWNERSHIP(Cf. ↑full ownership), JOINT OWNERSHIP(Cf. ↑joint ownership), MAJORITY OWNERSHIP(Cf. ↑majority ownership), MINORITY OWNERSHIP(Cf. ↑minority ownership), PARTIAL OWNERSHIP(Cf. ↑partial ownership), PART OWNERSHIP(Cf. ↑part ownership), PUBLIC OWNERSHIP(Cf. ↑public ownership)