overwordExplorer
LATIN · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

possum.

be able to, can, may

6 characters2 syllables approx.Latina language

Meaning & usage

verb[ˈpɔs.sũː]Classical-Latin[ˈpɔs.sum]

  1. be able to, can, may

    impersonal · suppletive
    Tunc, modo edere nōn potuit
    Possum Latīnē loquī.

  2. in the 3rd person singular (pote est): it may be, it is possible

    impersonal · suppletive
    quantum potest

  3. to have influence or efficacy, to avail, to have power over, to have mastery of, to rule over

    impersonal · intransitive · suppletive · usually
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pótis Proto-Italic *potis Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- Proto-Indo-European *-t Proto-Indo-European *bʰúHt Proto-Italic *som Proto-Italic *possom Latin possum From Proto-Italic *possom, from *potis (“master in control of”) + *som (“to be”). By surface analysis, potis + sum. Cognates include Oscan 𐌐𐌞𐌕𐌝𐌀𐌃 (pútíad, “to be able”) and South Picene puti (“I could”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.