Etymology and origin of the Latin word potior
potior1 get possession of
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- c. 235–200 BC Naevius
- Ultimate origin
- Latin potis
Etymology tree of potior1
From the same root · potior1
Pronunciation
Forms
potior (present infinitive potīrī or potīrier, perfect active potītus sum); fourth conjugation, deponent[1] Third- and fourth-conjugation forms are both common in the present indicative and imperfect subjunctive, and early Latin has the infinitives potī and potīrier.[2][3]
Etymology
The verb for “get possession of” is from Latin potis (“master, able”).[4][1][5] De Vaan explains that the noun for “master” became an adjective in combination with esse, and that a verb was then derived from it;[4] the OLD derives it from potiō (“to put in someone's power”).[2] Potis goes back to Proto-Italic *poti- (“master, in control of”) and Proto-Indo-European *pót-i-.[4] Following Wackernagel, the TLL thinks that two verbs were merged: a third-conjugation deponent connected with an Old Indic verb meaning “to rule”, and the active ⟨potīre⟩.[6][7]
Earliest recorded meaning
De Vaan dates it from Naevius,[4] whose line dic quo pacto eum potiti: pugnan an dolis? (“tell me how you got hold of him: by fighting or by tricks?”) uses it of capturing a person.[2]
Semantic evolution
The OLD's senses run from taking possession and seizing, through overpowering or capturing a person and winning someone sexually, to reaching a place, gaining an experience, and finally being master of or simply having something.[2] The object is in the accusative in early Latin and in the ablative or genitive later.[2][3] Ecclesiastical Latin used it for obtaining and becoming partaker of something.[8]
Timeline
- c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it of capturing a person.[4][2][9]
- c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of getting hold of someone and of winning a lover.[2][9]
- 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of Romulus seizing booty.[2][9]
- 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it for “possess”.[2][9]
- c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it for reaching a place and for ruling a land.[2][9]
Meanings
Verb
- To make oneself master of, take possession of, seize.[2][3]
- To get control of (a person), overpower, capture; to get hold of someone's services; to win sexually.[2]
- To reach (a place); to grasp.[2]
- To gain, come by (an experience or state).[2]
- To be master of, rule over; to possess, have.[2][8]
Word family
- perpotior
- potītor
potior2 better
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- c. 235–200 BC Naevius
- Ultimate origin
- Latin potis
Etymology tree of potior2
From the same root · potior2
Pronunciation
Forms
potior (comparative, neuter potius); third declension[1]
Etymology
The adjective for “better” is formed from Latin potis (“able, master”) + -ior, the comparative of the adjective.[2][1][3] Potis goes back to Proto-Italic *poti- (“master, in control of”) and Proto-Indo-European *pót-i-.[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is found from Naevius on.[4][9] In Plautus it means “having more control over”: me suspendio quam tu eius potior fias satiust mortuom (“better for me to die by hanging than for you to get her”).[2][6]
Semantic evolution
From greater control the senses go to greater power and strength, then to a better claim or better qualification, a sense used in law,[2] and to “preferable, more important”, as in Cicero's mors ... servitute potior (“death is preferable to slavery”).[10] The neuter potius became the adverb “rather”.[1] Italian poziore continues it.[1]
Timeline
- c. 235–200 BC – Naevius has the comparative.[4][9]
- c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for “having more control” and “more powerful”.[2][9]
- 190–159 BC – Terence uses it for “better entitled”.[2][9]
- 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for “preferable”.[10][9]
- 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of things, “more effective”.[2][9]
- 140–180 AD – Gaius uses it of a creditor with the stronger legal claim.[2][9]
Meanings
Adjective
- Having greater control (over) (with genitive).[2]
- (law) Having the stronger claim, better entitled.[2] Gaius: potior est in pignore qui prius credidit pecuniam (“he who lent the money first has the better right to the pledge”).[2]
- More powerful, stronger; of things, more effective, carrying more weight.[2]
- Better qualified or entitled (to be regarded as something).[2]
- Preferable, better, more important.[10][1][8]
Word family
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
- ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
- ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
Cite this entry
“Potior.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/potior. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.
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