potent English · revision 39919

+ Merriam-Webster and the Shorter Oxford give the heraldic ''potent'', originally a crutch, and the adjective meaning "powerful" separate numbered entries.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈpəʊt(ə)nt/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈpoʊt(ə)nt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|crutch; heraldic T-shape}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1348|origins=la potentia}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The heraldic ''potent'' is [[inh|enm|potente|t=crutch]], [[bor|xno|potente|t=crutch]], also Middle French of Flanders and Picardy, recorded in Old French in the 13th century,^(OED 2026)^(Dictionary.com 2016) apparently an alteration of [[m|fro|potence|t=crutch, gibbet]],^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(ODE 2010)^(MWU 2024) perhaps through an unrecorded variant [[la-med|*potenta]] of [[m|la|potentia|t=power]],^(OED 2026) which in Medieval Latin also meant a crutch.^(ODE 2010)^(Dictionary.com 2016) In English its development was influenced by the noun and adjective ''potence''.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A crutch, or a staff with a crosspiece to lean on: the OED's first example is from the Exchequer accounts of 1348.^(OED 2026) Dictionary.com dates the Middle English word to 1325–75.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the crutch came the figurative sense "a support, a stay", recorded in Lydgate's ''Fall of Princes'' (?a1439) and rare after the 15th century;^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) in Scots the word was used about 1550 for a gibbet.^(OED 2026) In 1688 Randle Holme used it for a cross handle shaped like the head of a crutch, and for the T-shaped figure of heraldry.^(OED 2026) A cross whose arms end in such T-shapes is a ''cross potent'', recorded in a Scottish heraldic manuscript before 1586,^(OED 2026) about 1586 in Merriam-Webster;^(MWU 2024) ''potent counter potent'', a heraldic fur made of rows of upright and inverted T-shapes placed end to end, is recorded from 1708.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1348 – a crutch.^(OED 2026)

+ * ?a1439 – figuratively, a support or stay.^(OED 2026)

+ * c1550 – (Scots, obsolete) a gibbet.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1586 – adjective, of a heraldic cross: ending in T-shapes.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1688 – a T-shaped heraldic figure.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1708 – ''potent counter potent'', a heraldic fur.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ([[heraldry]]) A T-shaped figure, especially a bar across the end of an arm of a [[cross]].^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+ # (heraldry) A [[fur]] made of rows of T-shaped figures, alternately upright and inverted.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # (archaic) A [[crutch]]; a support or stay.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # (heraldry) Of a cross: having a flat crossbar at the end of each arm: ''a cross potent''.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ {{homograph|2|powerful}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1425, Speculum Sacerdotale|origins=la potis}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The adjective meaning "powerful" is [[bor|la|potēns|t=powerful, mighty, effective]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) the present participle of [[m|la|possum|t=to be able, be powerful]].^(Etymonline)^(Ayto 2005)^(Skeat 1911)^(Weekley 1921) Barnhart and Hoad explain it as the participle of an unrecorded older verb [[la|*poteō|t=to be powerful]], from [[m|la|potis|t=powerful, able]]; because the infinitive of ''possum'' was a contraction of a phrase meaning "to be powerful" ([[m|la|potis]] with [[m|la|sum|t=to be]]), ''potēns'' came to serve as its participle.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Ayto 2005)^(MWU 2024) The Latin adjective goes back to [[ine-pro|*poti-|t=powerful; lord]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024) In post-classical Latin ''potēns'' was also said of strong wine, in a 13th-century British source.^(OED 2026) French had ''potent'' in 1607, and Spanish [[m|es|potente]] is recorded from the 13th century.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of a person or thing: powerful, having great authority or influence, mighty.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) Barnhart dates the word probably to about 1425;^(Barnhart 1988) the OED's first example is from the ''Speculum Sacerdotale'' (a1500, composed perhaps about 1425),^(OED 2026) and Etymonline gives the early 15th century.^(Etymonline) Dictionary.com dates it to 1490–1500.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The general sense is now chiefly literary.^(OED 2026) From it the word was applied to arguments and ideas that convince (1609, in Shakespeare's ''Troilus and Cressida''),^(OED 2026) and to drugs and drinks with a strong effect, from 1603 in Drayton.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) The sexual sense, of a man able to have intercourse, is recorded from before 1633 in Archbishop Abbot's ''Case of Impotency'', the opposite of ''impotent''.^(OED 2026) Johnson (1755) defined the adjective as "powerful; forcible; strong; efficacious".^(Johnson 1755) Used as a noun, ''potent'' meant a power (1512), a powerful person or [[potentate]] (1568–1704) and a military warrant (1622–1728), all now obsolete;^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) a 20th-century American noun use, a potion or herbal remedy, dates from 1902.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1425 – powerful, mighty.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 2026)

+ * 1512 – noun, a power (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1568 – noun, a potentate (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1603 – of a drug or drink: strong in effect.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1609 – of an argument: convincing.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1622 – noun, a military warrant (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * a1633 – capable of sexual intercourse.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1902 – noun, a potion or herbal remedy.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Having great [[power]], strength or influence: ''Fear of losing their jobs was a potent force among the workers.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # Of an argument or idea: [[persuasive]], [[convincing]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # Of a [[drug]], poison or drink: having a strong effect on the body: ''a potent sleeping pill''.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # Of a man: able to have sexual [[intercourse]]; not [[impotent]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[potently]]

+ * [[potentness]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[potence]]

+ * [[potency]]

+ * [[potentate]]

+ * [[potential]]

+ * [[potentiality]]

+ * [[potentiate]]

+ * [[omnipotent]]

+ * [[impotent]]

+ * [[possible]]

+ * [[posse]]

+ * [[power]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}