pot English · revision 5533

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /pɒt/, US /pɑːt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|container}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1200, Ancrene Riwle}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The container is [[inh|enm|pot]], [[inh|ang|pott]], reinforced in Middle English by Old French pot.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) Both are from [[la-vul|*pottus]], of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Barnhart and the OED doubt a connection with Late Latin pōtus “drinking cup”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Old Frisian pott and Middle Dutch pot are related.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A round vessel used as a container, before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and especially for cooking from before 1300.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A drinking vessel for beer or wine is from about 1440, and a flowerpot and a chamber pot from 1598.^(OED 1989) ''Go to pot'', to be ruined, is from the 1530s and probably pictures meat cut up for the pot.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline) The money staked on a bet is from 1823, and the stakes in a card game from 1847 in American English.^(Etymonline) A silver cup won as a prize is from 1885, and a pot belly from 1928.^(OED 1989) The verb, to put in a pot, is from the 1610s, and to shoot game, “for the pot”, from 1860; hence ''potshot''.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) In northern England dialect a pot is a deep hole in a river bed or in limestone, which may be the same word or Scandinavian.^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1200 – a vessel.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1440 – a drinking pot.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1530s – ''go to pot''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1598 – a flowerpot.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1823 – money staked.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1928 – a pot belly.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A round, deep [[container]] for cooking or storing things.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A [[flowerpot]], [[teapot]] or similar container.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(the pot)'' The total money bet in one round of a card game.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # ''(informal)'' A large sum of money, or a prize cup in sport.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # ''(informal)'' A [[potbelly]].^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To plant in a pot.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To preserve food in a pot or jar.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To [[shoot]] an animal, or hit a ball into a pocket in billiards or snooker.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ {{homograph|2|marijuana}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing, clipping|attested=1938|origins=es potiguaya}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Marijuana is probably shortened [[bor|es|potiguaya|t=marijuana leaves]], a Mexican Spanish word.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Marijuana, in American English: 1938.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Pothead'', a person who smokes marijuana, is a mid-20th-century compound.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1938 – marijuana.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(informal)'' [[marijuana]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[potter]]

+ * [[pottery]]

+ * [[potluck]]

+ * [[potshot]]

+ * [[pothole]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Pot, a potshot or in Australian and New Zealand rugby a dropped goal, is from the late 19th century, a shortening of [[potshot]].^(SOED 2002) Pot, short for [[potentiometer]], is from the mid-20th century.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}