Etymograph

English

power

Power comes from Old French poeir ‘to be able; power, ability’, from Vulgar Latin potēre, from Latin possum ‘to be able, can’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *possom, from *potis ‘master’ + *som ‘to be’.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*possom1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpossum1‘to be able, can’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEpotēre1
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400poeir1‘to be able; power, ability’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500power1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1577power1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English power
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1577, Raphaell Holinshed, The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England: “The threatning words of duke Robert comming at the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*possomWiktionary, English powerreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpossumWiktionary, English power‘to be able, can’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEpotēreWiktionary, English power
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400poeirWiktionary, English power‘to be able; power, ability’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500powerWiktionary, English power
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1577powerWiktionary, English power. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1577, Raphaell Holinshed, The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England: “The threatning words of duke Robert comming at the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to be, become, grow, appear’

be, been, future, build, physical, improve, bond, represent, bush, bound, contribution, presentation, physician, booth, approve, probability, favorable, distribute, contributor, fiat, bun, favourable, bouquet, retribution, attribution, imp, absentee, rebuke, aren, absentia, bosque, phylogeny, physic, phylum, approbation, beamer, boor, bower, bist, futur, 73 more

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰúHt ‘to become’

present, presence, essential, absence, entity, absent, bondage, busk, 15 more

through Proto-Italic *som

impossible, impossibility, 5 more

through Proto-Italic *possom

possible, possibility, impotent, 7 more

through Latin posse

potent, 1 more

Today it means

noun The ability to do or undergo something.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “power”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *possom / power

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