Definition of "possessory" [pos•sess•o•ry]

• Of, relating to, or having possession. (adjective)
• Law Depending on or arising from possession: possessory interest. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Ms Watson is understood to have bought most of the site in a normal freehold transaction, using what is known as a title possessory order to gain ownership of the rest."
• "Now, if the contract does not contain the condition of delivery at the same time — as a pactum re initum — and consequently an interval of time intervenes between the conclusion of the contract and the taking possession of the object of acquisition, I cannot obtain possession of it during this interval otherwise than by exercising the particular juridical activity called a possessory act (actum possessorium), which constitutes a special contract."
• "But he says not all property interests are possessory."