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pouvoir

Etymology and origin of the French word pouvoir

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
842, Serments de Strasbourg
Inherited from
Latin *poteo via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (possum)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French pouvoir
French peut-être

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pu.vwaʁ/[1]
  • IPA (Louisiana): [pu.wɒɾ][1]

Forms

pouvoir[1] Old French podeir (842), poeir, pooir, then povoir with an inserted v, and pouvoir (1440).[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French podeir, inherited from Vulgar Latin *potēre, a remaking of Classical Latin posse (“to be able”) after the forms with the stem “pot-”: potest, “potuī”, “poteram”.[4][5][6][3] “Posse” itself combines the adjective potis (“master of, able”) with sum (“to be”) (“potis est” “it is possible”) and an unattested verb “*poteō”.[2][7] “Potis” goes back to an Indo-European stem Proto-Indo-European *pótis (“master, lord”), which named the head of a family or clan, as in Ancient Greek πόσις (pósis, “husband”) and Sanskrit पति (pati, “lord”).[2][7] The “v” was added after the loss of the Latin “t” between vowels, to break the hiatus; the old first person “puis” comes from Vulgar Latin *posseō.[1]

Cognate with Romanian putea, Italian potere, Occitan poder, Catalan poder, Spanish poder and Portuguese poder.[7][1] English power comes from the Old French noun.[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Strasbourg Oaths (842) have podir with an infinitive, “to have the strength or ability to”: in quant Deus savir et podir me dunat “as far as God gives me knowledge and power”.[4][8]

Semantic evolution

By the end of the 10th century the subjunctive expressed a wish (puisse-t-il…), and about 1050 the verb meant “to have the opportunity to” and “to have reason to”.[4] Old French often used it with an adverb in place of a verb of motion, a use that survives in n'en pouvoir mais “to be worn out, unable to help it” (about 1160), on ne peut mieux (about 1485) and on ne peut plus + adjective (1768).[4] The impersonal il peut “it is possible” dates from about 1160, and peut-être, from puet cel estre “that may be”, from about 1175.[4][6]

The infinitive became a noun, pouvoir “power, authority”, in the 12th century, according to Bloch and Wartburg.[6] The Grand Robert dates the noun to 1360, with podir “power” as early as 842.[3] puissant (about 1080) and puissance (12th century) are built on the forms with puis-.[6]

Timeline

  • 842 – Podir in the Strasbourg Oaths.[4]
  • c. 1050 – “To have the opportunity to”, in the Vie de saint Alexis.[4]
  • c. 1080 – Puissant.[6]
  • c. 1160 – N'en pouvoir mais.[4]
  • c. 1175 – Peut-être.[6]
  • 1440 – The spelling pouvoir.[2][3]
  • 1768 – On ne peut plus + adjective, in Diderot.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. can, to be able to: to have the ability or means to do something.[1][7]
  2. May: to be allowed to, to have the right to: puis-je entrer ?.[1]
  3. May, might: marks possibility: il peut pleuvoir, il se peut que “it may be that”.[1][7]
  4. (subjunctive) Expresses a wish: puissiez-vous réussir !.[4]
  5. N'en plus pouvoir: to be exhausted, n'y pouvoir rien: to be unable to help it.[8][1]

Noun

  1. power, ability: le pouvoir de guérir.[1]
  2. authority; political power, government: prendre le pouvoir.[1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 231b
  6. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse

Derived terms

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Pouvoir.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/pouvoir. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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