denotation.
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: ability to act or produce an effect
: possession of control, authority,
or influence over others
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etymology.
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13c. English; “ability; ability to act or do; strength, vigor, might”
Anglo-French, pouair
Old French, povoir; noun use of infinitive“to be able”
earlier, podir
Vulgar Latin *potere
present participle of Latin possum, posse.; “able, capable, possible”
Latin, potis
Ancient Greek πόσις (pósis); “husband”
PIE root *pótis; “master, ruler, husband”

“it’s often assumed that the meaning “lord, husband” derived from an even older meaning “self”, as found in Lithuanian pàts (“self”).”

POWER/PODER