Standard Lemma guide

puissant

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

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.

  • UK: /ˈpwɪs(ə)nt/
  • UK: /ˈpjuːɪs(ə)nt/
  • US: /ˈpjuəsənt/
  • US: /ˈpwɪsənt/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Powerful, mighty, having authority.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic, literary

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

powerful

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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”).

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: могъщ (mogǎšt) — powerful, mighty
  • Bulgarian: могъществен (mogǎštestven) — powerful, mighty
  • Dutch: vermogend — powerful, mighty
  • Dutch: puissant — powerful, mighty
  • Esperanto: potenca — powerful, mighty
  • French: puissant — powerful, mighty
  • Ido: povo — powerful, mighty
  • Ido: potenteso — powerful, mighty
  • Polish: potężny — powerful, mighty
  • Russian: могу́щественный (mogúščestvennyj) — powerful, mighty