Where does “puissant” come from?
Puissant comes from Middle French puissant, from Old French pooir and poeir, ultimately from Latin possum meaning "to be able," with the root also appearing in Latin potens meaning "powerful."
puissant (English): Powerful, mighty, having authority
Definitions
- Powerful, mighty, having authority
Ancestry of “puissant”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | puissaunt | — |
| 2 | Old French | puissant | powerful; mighty |
| 3 | Old French | pooir | can; to be able to; power; ability; capability |
| 4 | Latin | posso | to be able |
| 5 | Finnish | possu | piggy, pig, piglet; a slovenly person; pork |
| 6 | Finnish | porsas | A piglet; Pork; A pig in the sense of messy,... |
| 7 | Proto-Finnic | porcas | piglet |
| 8 | Romanian | porc | pig , hog, swine; pork |
| 9 | Latin | porcus | a piglet, a young pig; a pig, hog; Short for... |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | porkos | pig |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | pórḱos | piglet |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | perḱ- | colored; motley; to open, rip up |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |
Words derived from “puissant”