Etymologically
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omnipotens

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɔmˈnɪ.pɔ.tẽːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [omˈniː.po.tens][1]

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