puissant

UK/ˈpwɪs(ə)nt/US/ˈpjuəsənt/

adjectiveC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechneutral

Puissant means powerful and mighty, in old use. A puissant lord, puissant and feared, most puissant.

It is archaic and survives in heraldry, in old translations and in fantasy. The French behind it is simply the participle of the verb to be able, so a puissant person is one who can.

Definitions of puissant

1adjectivepuissantPowerful and mighty, in old use.C2
“The puissant king ruled over lands stretching from the sea to the mountains.”

puissant is a quality.

Where it comes from

Old French puissant is the present participle of pooir, to be able, from Latin posse.

Latin
posse — be able
Old French
pussant
Anglo-Norman
puissant
Middle French
puissant
Middle English
puissaunt
English, today
puissant

Built from

pooir · Old French — to be able

From Middle English puissaunt, from Middle French puissant, poissant, Anglo-Norman puissant, Old French pussant, et al., present participle of pooir (“to be able”), ultimately from Latin posse (“be able”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

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