English Explanatory Dictionary

potent

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Powerful; possessing power; effective.
  2. Possessing authority or influence; persuasive, convincing.
  3. Possessing strong physical or chemical properties.
  4. Able to procreate.
  5. Able to differentiate.
noun
  1. A prince; a potentate.
  2. A staff or crutch.
  3. A heraldic fur formed by a regular tessellation of blue and white T shapes.

Pronunciation

/ˈpəʊt(ə)nt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-potent.wav /ˈpoʊt(ə)nt/ [ˈpʰoʊ̯ʔn̩t] [-n̩ʔ] /ˈpəʉt(ə)nt/ [ˈpʰəʉ̯ʔn̩t] /ˈpɐʉt(ə)nt/ [ˈpʰɐʉʔn̩t]

Word forms

potent more potent most potent potents

Etymology

From Middle English potent, borrowed from Latin potens, potentis (“powerful, strong, potent”), present participle of posse (“to be able”), from potis (“able, powerful, originally a lord, master”).

Antonyms

impotent counterpotent

Related words

cross potent potence potency potentate potential potentiality potentiate potenty potente

Derived words

biopotent bipotent immunopotent monopotent nullipotent overpotent polypotent potentiary potentization potentize potently potentness potent potable repotentise subpotent superpotent ultrapotent counter-potent cross potent equipotent idempotent multipotent nilpotent oligopotent omnipotent pluripotent totipotent unipotent ventripotent

Translations

Bulgarian: силен Finnish: voimakas Finnish: tehokas Finnish: vahva Finnish: potentti French: puissant Italian: potente Latin: potens Macedonian: си́лен Middle English: vertuous Norwegian Bokmål: effektfull Norwegian Bokmål: virkningsfull Portuguese: potente Romanian: potent Spanish: potente Spanish: viripotente
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on P Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary