Etymologically
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potius

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Forms

potius (not comparable)[1]

Etymology

It is the neuter of potior “better, preferable”, the comparative of potis “able”, used as an adverb.[2][1][3] De Vaan explains ⟨potis⟩ from the PIE noun Proto-Indo-European *pótis (“master, lord”), which became an adjective in Latin in combination with esse; it also underlies possum.[4]

Compare Sanskrit पति (páti, “lord, master”), Ancient Greek πόσις (pósis, “husband”) and Lithuanian pàts (“husband”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Naevius;[5] Plautus has mī līberte, mī patrōne potius, immō mī pater, “my freedman, rather my patron, no, my father”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Potius means “rather, more” when one thing is more correct or fitting than another, usually with quam (potius quam “rather than”).[2][1] It corrects or sharpens a statement (vel potius “or rather”), marks a replacement (“instead”) or an opposite (“on the contrary”), and expresses preference, “preferably, more gladly”.[2][1][6]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – First found in Naevius.[5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: cras īrēs potius, hodiē hīc cēnārēs, “you had better go tomorrow and dine here today”.[2][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence: rem potius ipsam dīc, “tell me the thing itself instead”.[2][5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. rather, more;[2][3] potius quam, rather than.[2][1]
  2. More exactly, rather;[2] vel potius, or rather.[1]
  3. instead.[2][1]
  4. On the contrary.[2]
  5. preferably, by preference, more gladly.[2][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson