Pwn (below: Various pronunciations) is a leetspeak slang term, derived from the verb “own”, as meaning to appropriate or to conquer to gain ownership. The term implies domination or humiliation of a rival, used primarily in the Internet gaming culture to taunt an opponent who has just been soundly defeated (e.g., “You just got pwned!”). It was popular among Counter-Strike gamers before spreading through the more general Internet world. The past tense and past participle, pwned, may also be spelled: pwnd, pwn’d pwn3d, pwnt, poned or powned.
The author must be a gamer.