Where does “puissance” come from?
puissance (Middle French) comes from Old French puissance, from Old French puissant, from Old French pooir, from Latin posso, from Finnish possu, from Finnish porsas, from Proto-Finnic porcas, from Romanian porc — passed , crossed.
puissance (Middle French): power
Definitions
- power
Ancestry of “puissance”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | puissance | power; ability; authority; might; strength |
| 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 (mammal of genus Sus), hog, swine |
| 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 |