adj
Meaning 1
Powerful; possessing power; effective.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
potent
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˈpəʊt(ə)nt/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Canada, General-American: /ˈpoʊt(ə)nt/
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Canada, General-American: [ˈphoʊ̯ʔn̩t]
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Canada, General-American: [-n̩ʔ]
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Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Australian: /ˈpəʉt(ə)nt/
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Australian: [ˈphəʉ̯ʔn̩t]
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Australian: [-n̩ʔ]
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New-Zealand: /ˈpɐʉt(ə)nt/
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New-Zealand: [ˈphɐʉʔn̩t]
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New-Zealand: [-n̩ʔ]
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rhymes with -əʊtənt
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CMU ARPABET: P OW1 T AH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Powerful; possessing power; effective.
Possessing authority or influence; persuasive, convincing.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- a potent argument
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Powerful; possessing power; effective.
Possessing strong physical or chemical properties.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- a potent drink; a potent solvent; a potent medicine
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 4
Able to procreate.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 5
Able to differentiate.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
A prince; a potentate.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
A staff or crutch.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 8
A heraldic fur formed by a regular tessellation of blue and white T shapes.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: government, heraldry, hobbies, lifestyle, monarchy, nobility, politics
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective
Meaning 9
having a strong physiological or chemical effect,
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- a potent toxin
- potent liquor
- a potent cup of tea
- a stiff drink
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: strong, stiff
Antonyms: impotent
adjective
Meaning 10
(of a male) capable of copulation
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: virile
Antonyms: impotent
adjective satellite
Meaning 11
having or wielding force or authority
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- providing the ground soldier with increasingly potent weapons
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: strong
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 12
having great influence
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: powerful
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Middle English potent, borrowed from Latin potens, potentis (“powerful, strong, potent”), present participle of posse (“to be able”), from potis (“able, powerful, originally a lord, master”).
Across languages
Translations
16 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: силен (silen) — powerfully effective
- Finnish: voimakas — powerfully effective
- Finnish: tehokas — powerfully effective
- Finnish: vahva — powerfully effective
- Finnish: potentti — powerfully effective
- French: puissant — powerfully effective
- Italian: potente — powerfully effective
- Latin: potens — powerfully effective
- Macedonian: си́лен (sílen) — powerfully effective
- Middle English: vertuous — powerfully effective
- Norwegian Bokmål: effektfull — powerfully effective
- Norwegian Bokmål: virkningsfull — powerfully effective
- Portuguese: potente — powerfully effective
- Romanian: potent — powerfully effective
- Spanish: potente — powerfully effective
- Spanish: viripotente — powerfully effective