Where does “poter” come from?
poter (Interlingua) comes from Spanish poder, from Latin posso, from Finnish possu, from Finnish porsas, from Proto-Finnic porcas, from Romanian porc, from Latin porcus, from Proto-Italic porkos — passed , crossed.
poter (Interlingua): to be able to
Definitions
- to be able to
Ancestry of “poter”, step by step
poter traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Spanish poder
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spanish | poder | power, reign; authorization; proxy |
| 2 | Latin | posso | to be able |
| 3 | Finnish | possu | piggy, pig, piglet; a slovenly person; pork |
| 4 | Finnish | porsas | A piglet; Pork; A pig in the sense of messy,... |
| 5 | Proto-Finnic | porcas | piglet |
| 6 | Romanian | porc | pig (mammal of genus Sus), hog, swine |
| 7 | Latin | porcus | a piglet, a young pig; a pig, hog; Short for... |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | porkos | pig |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pórḱos | piglet |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | perḱ- | colored; motley; to open, rip up |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |
via Portuguese poder
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portuguese | poder | power; possession; Only used in em poder de;... |
| 2 | Old Portuguese | poder | — |
| 3 | Vulgar Latin | potere | to be able; second-person singular present... |
| 4 | Latin | possum | I am able, I can, I may |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | *possom | — |
via Italian potere
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italian | potere | can, could; be able to; may, might; be possible... |