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  1. puissance love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Power; might.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. Power; strength; force; vigor.
  2. n. Jurisdiction; power; control.
  3. n. Armed force.

Wiktionary

  1. n. Power, might or potency.
  2. n. The high-jump component of the sport of show jumping.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. Power; strength; might; force; potency.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. power to influence or coerce

Etymologies

  1. From Anglo-Norman pussance, pusaunce et al., from puissant ("powerful"). (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English, from Old French, from poissant, powerful, present participle of pooir, to be able; see power. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “Could pissens be French-based Creole (maybe Haitian, if the ad was made in America), as in French "puissance" (power, potential, see Chinese neng 能)?”

    languagehat.com: NAME THAT LANGUAGE!

  • “O thou of beautiful smiles, Word is a cow, in consequence of her puissance which is both divine and not divine.”

    The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 Books 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18

  • “Well, what Spenser did with practically every Western myth, epic, and writer before him makes Faulkner look like a pre-schooler using slight of hand to hide a coin), his passion, his facility with language (that is, if you ignore the occasional "puissance"), his psychological insight.”

    Telecommuter Talk

  • “As a mark of his noble puissance, shops and restaurants throughout the city unhesitatingly honored his money at full face value.”

    Simon & Schuster: LIGHTING OUT FOR THE TERRITORY

  • “How, Dalgliesh wondered, had the sculptor managed to convey the sweetness and the obstinacy of that individual smile, to model compassion and yet reduce it to self-delusion, to show humility garbed in a monk's habit -nd yet convey an overriding impression of the puissance of evil.”

    Fictionaut: She Closed Her Eyes

  • “Une idée fausse, mais claire et précise, aura toujours plus de puissance dans le monde qu'une idée vraie mais complexe.”

    Milestones

  • “BIEN VU : la puissance extraordinaire et exploitable, les performances époustouflantes, la relative facilité de conduite, l'efficacité rassurante du freinage, l'impressionnante qualité de fabrication”

    [bugatti] mille et un chevaux - wow

  • “Not much detail is given about the magic they hold, but the reader is given stories of their puissance to confirm that something is decidedly different.”

    Archive 2009-07-01

  • “They want the US to exercise more power over, say, the genocide in Rwanda but are worried about U. S hyper-puissance.”

    Gordon Brown, Charlie Whelan and Me

  • “Pardon me, however, that, being a soldier upon my post, with my lance in my hand, I may not give to one of thy puissance the advantage of coming within my guard, or of mastering my weapon.”

    The Talisman

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synonyms (5)

Words with the same meaning

  1. power
  1. strength
  1. might
  1. force
  1. potency

hypernyms (2)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. power
  1. powerfulness

same context (17)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. loi
  2. cime
  3. histoire
  1. voix
  2. compagnie
  3. montagne
  1. militaire
  2. bouche
  3. physionomie
  1. affaire
  2. jeunesse
  3. Maison
  1. societe
  2. longueur
  3. inclinaison
  1. faveur
  2. jambe

reverse dictionary (3)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. puissantness
  1. puyssance
  1. armipotence

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Lists

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Comments

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  • Casey "Important people came in from the farther corners of the Barony, and there were a good many Conversationals leading up to the main Conversational on Reaping Day. Susan was expeccted to be present at these--mostly as a decorative testimony to the Mayor's continuing puissance." From Wizard and Glass by Stephen King. Jan 28, 2011

  • bilby "Where is the graveyard of dead gods? What lingering mourner waters their mounds? There was a time when Jupiter was the king of the gods, and any man who doubted his puissance was ipso facto a barbarian and an ignoramus. But where in all the world is there a man who worships Jupiter today?
    - H. L. Mencken, 'Where is the graveyard of dead gods?' Sep 29, 2008

  • chained_bear This word is one of the few that is wholly Shakespearean in my view.

    I also like to say "wholly." Apr 28, 2008

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‘puissance’ has been looked up 2724 times, loved by 8 people, added to 46 lists, commented on 3 times, and has a Scrabble score of 13.