omnipotens

Forms

omnipotēns (genitive omnipotentis, comparative omnipotēntior, superlative omnipotēntissimus); third-declension one-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin omnis (“all”) + potēns (“powerful”).^[2][3][1] De Vaan derives potēns from a verb Proto-Italic *pot-ē- (“to be master”), built on Proto-Indo-European *pót-i- (“master, lord”), compare Sanskrit पति (páti-, “lord, master”) and Ancient Greek πόσις (pósis, “husband”); for omnis he discusses a verbal adjective from Proto-Indo-European *h₁op- (“to take”) or Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- (“to work”).^[4] The TLL compares Ancient Greek παντοκράτωρ (pantokrátōr, “almighty”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.^[4] Ennius uses it of Jupiter: “I beseech you, almighty one”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In Ennius, Catullus, Virgil and Ovid it is an epithet of Jupiter, the almighty father, and it can stand alone as a noun for him.^[2][6] Lewis & Short call it poetic and post-classical in prose.^[6] In Christian Latin it is the usual epithet of God, the Almighty, and it is common in medieval texts.^[7][5] An inscription of the early 4th century applies it to the emperor Galerius.^[3] English omnipotent came from it in the early 14th century, through Old French and directly.^[8]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius of Jupiter.^[2][5]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of Jupiter.^[6][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of the almighty father.^[6][5]
• 305–311 AD – An inscription calls the emperor Galerius almighty.^[3]
• early 14th century – English omnipotent is borrowed through Old French and directly.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Almighty, all-powerful, omnipotent.^[2][6][7][1]

Noun

1. The Almighty: Jupiter;^[2][7] (Ecclesiastical Latin) God.^[2][7]

Word family

• omnipotentia

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com