different between puissant vs able

English

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”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?pw?s(?)nt/, /?pju??s(?)nt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?pju?s?nt/, /?pw?s?nt/

Adjective

puissant (comparative more puissant, superlative most puissant)

1. (archaic or literary) Powerful, mighty, having authority.
   • 1599 — William Shakespeare, Hen V i 2

     Awake remembrance of these valiant dead, / And with your puissant arm renew their feats.

   • 1667 — John Milton, Paradise Lost Book I

     For who can yet believe, though after loss,
     That all these puissant legions, whose exile
     Hath emptied Heaven, shall fail to re-ascend,
     Self-raised, and repossess their native seat?

   • I cried in a loud voice, "Long live the most puissant king of Lilliput!"

   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 24

     How comes all this, if there be not something puissant in whaling?

   • 1961 - Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

     In fact the titles could be anything-or (with some of the most puissant) no title at all...

Related terms

• puissance

Translations

Anagrams

• snapsuit, uitspans

French

Etymology

Old present participle of the verb pouvoir (formed with the stem puis-; compare the modern form pouvant), from Old French puissant, pussant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p?i.s??/

Adjective

puissant (feminine singular puissante, masculine plural puissants, feminine plural puissantes)

1. powerful; mighty

Related terms

• pouvoir
• puissance

Further reading

• “puissant” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Old French

Alternative forms

• poissant
• pussant

Etymology

From the present participle of pooir, povoir, formed with the stem puis- in conjugated forms of the verb.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pui?.?sant/

Adjective

puissant m (oblique and nominative feminine singular puissant or puissante)

1. powerful; mighty

Declension

Related terms

• puissance

Descendants

• ? English: puissant
• Middle French: puissant
  • French: puissant

English

Alternative forms

• (obsolete) hable

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?e?.bl?/, /?e?.b?l/
• Rhymes: -e?b?l
• Homophone: Abel

Etymology 1

From Middle English able, from Old Northern French able, variant of Old French abile, habile, from Latin habilis (“easily managed, held, or handled; apt; skillful”), from habe? (“have, possess”) +? -ibilis.

Adjective

able (comparative abler, superlative ablest)

1. (obsolete) Easy to use. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the mid 18^th century.]
2. (obsolete) Suitable; competent. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 18^th century.]
3. (obsolete, dialectal) Liable to. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).]
4. Having the necessary powers or the needed resources to accomplish a task. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).]
5. Free from constraints preventing completion of task; permitted to; not prevented from. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).]

6. (obsolete, dialectal) Having the physical strength; robust; healthy. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).]

7. (obsolete) Rich; well-to-do. [Attested from the mid 16^th century until the late 19^th century.]

8. Gifted with skill, intelligence, knowledge, or competence. [First attested in the mid 16^th century.]
9. (law) Legally qualified or competent. [First attested in the early 18^th century.]

10. (nautical) Capable of performing all the requisite duties; as an able seaman. [First attested in the late 18^th century.]

Usage notes

• In standard English, one is "able to do something". In some older texts representing various dialects, particularly Irish English, or black speech, "able for do something" is found instead, and in some Caribbean dialects "able with" is sometimes found.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:skillful

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English ablen, from Middle English able (adjective).

Verb

able (third-person singular simple present ables, present participle abling, simple past and past participle abled)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To make ready. [Attested from around (1150 to 1350) until the late 16^th century.]
2. (transitive, obsolete) To make capable; to enable. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 19^th century.]
3. (transitive, obsolete) To dress. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 15^th century.]
4. (transitive, obsolete) To give power to; to reinforce; to confirm. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the mid 17^th century.]
5. (transitive, obsolete) To vouch for; to guarantee. [Attested from the late 16^th century until the early 17^th century.]

Derived terms

• abled

Translations

Etymology 3

From the first letter of the word. Suggested in the 1916 United States Army Signal Book to distinguish the letter when communicating via telephone, and later adopted in other radio and telephone signal standards.

Noun

able (uncountable)

1. (military) The letter "A" in Navy Phonetic Alphabet.

References

Anagrams

• Abel, Bale, Beal, Blea, Ebla, Elba, albe, bael, bale, beal, blea

French

Noun

able m (plural ables)

1. a vernacular name of the common bleak (usually called ablette)
2. a vernacular name of the sunbleak or moderlieschen, also called able de Heckel
3. (rare) a vernacular name of any of some other related fishes in the genus Alburnus (Cyprinidae)

Further reading

• “able” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• Abel, Bâle, béal, bêla

Old French

Alternative forms

• abile
• abille
• habile

Etymology

Latin habilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?a.bl?/

Adjective

able m (oblique and nominative feminine singular able)

1. able; capable

Declension

Descendants

• French: habile
  • ? Romanian: abil
• ? Middle Dutch: abel
  • Dutch: abel
• ? Middle English: able, habil
  • English: able, habile
    • ? Welsh: abl

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ebl/
• (South Scots) IPA^(key): /j?bl/

Adjective

able (comparative mair able, superlative maist able)

1. able, substantial, physically fit, strong, shrewd, cute
2. (obsolete) well-to-do, rich