Owned (slang)

Owned is a slang word^[1][2] that originated in the 1990s among hackers where it referred to "rooting" or gaining administrative control over someone else's computer. The term eventually spread to gamers, who used the term to mean defeat in gaming. Other variations of the word owned include own3d, 0wn3d, pwned, pwnt, POWER OWNED and pooned,^[3] terms which incorporate elements of leetspeak.

In 2009, Newgrounds described a security vulnerability in ActiveX as leaving Windows XP and Windows 2003 Server users open to a "Browse-And-Get-Owned" attack.^[4]

Owned has now spread beyond computer and gaming contexts and become part of standard slang, especially in social media, and is typically used to signify severe defeat or humiliation, usually in an amusing way or through the dominance of an opposing party, in diverse contexts ranging from sports to politics (e.g. "Obama owns Fox News" or "Trump owns CNN").^[3]