potentia

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See also: Potentia

Latin

Etymology

From potēns (able, powerful) +‎ -ia (abstract noun suffix).

Pronunciation

Noun

potentia f (genitive potentiae); first declension

  1. force, power, might
  2. ability, capacity
  3. political power, authority, influence, sway
  4. supreme dominion, sovereignty
    • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 6.359–360:
      ‘haec est, cui fuerat prōmissa potentia rērum,
      Iuppiter? hanc terrīs impositūrus erās?’
      “Is this to which had been promised the sovereignty of the world, O Jupiter? Is this you were about to impose upon nations?”
      (Mars (mythology) is addressing Jupiter (mythology).)
  5. (Medieval Latin) crutch, walking aid

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative potentia potentiae
Genitive potentiae potentiārum
Dative potentiae potentiīs
Accusative potentiam potentiās
Ablative potentiā potentiīs
Vocative potentia potentiae

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

Participle

potentia

  1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural of potēns

References

  • potentia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • potentia”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • potentia in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • potentia in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
    • to acquire influence: opes, gratiam, potentiam consequi
    • (ambiguous) oligarchy: paucorum dominatio or potentia
  • potentia”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • potentia in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
  • potentia”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
  • potentia”, in Richard Stillwell et al., editor (1976), The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press