Puissance
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 power, might or potency countable, uncountable
"The Sarazin ſore daunted with the buffe / Snatcheth his ſword, and fiercely to him flies; / Who well it wards, and quyteth cuff with cuff: / Each others equall puiſſaunce enuies, / And through their iron ſides with cruelties / Does ſeeke to perce: repining courage yields / No foote to foe."
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of puissance. alt-of, countable, uncountable
- 3 power to influence or coerce wordnet
- 4 The high-jump component of the sport of show jumping. countable, uncountable
"It was in Dublin that San Lucas scored his first success in what has become something of a speciality for him, the puissance."
Example
More examples"These nabobs waltzed into the capital with an arrogance that was breathtaking. Their prefatorial deficit resulted in a polemical stance at absolute contraposition to the legislature’s puissance."
Etymology
From Middle English puissaunce, from Anglo-Norman puissance, pusaunce, and other forms, from Old French puissant (“powerful”).
Related phrases
More for "puissance"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.