potius

Latin

Etymology

Originally, comparative adverb to pote.

Adverb

potius (not comparable)

1. rather, preferably
   • c. 209 BCE, Plautus, Asinaria 3.3.61–63:

     […] ; sed tibi si viginti minae argenti proferentur,
     quo nos vocabis nomine? — Libertos. — Non patronos?
     — Id potius.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 165 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Hecyra 753:

     Lepida es. Sed scin quid volŏ potius sodes facias?

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 44 BCE, Cicero, De Officiis 1.68:

     Nec vero imperia expetenda ac potius aut non accipienda interdum aut deponenda non numquam.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. rather than [with quam and subjunctive]
   • 166 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Andria 796–798:

     In hac habitasse platea dictumst Chrysidem,
     quae sese inhoneste optavit parere hic ditias
     potius quam honeste in patria pauper viveret

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations Oratio in Catilinam Prima in Senatu Habita.27:

     Tantum prōfēcī tum, cum tē ā cōnsulātū reppulī: ut exsul potius temptāre quam cōnsul vexāre rem pūblicam possēs, atque ut id, quod esset ā tē scelerātē susceptum, latrōcinium potius quam bellum nōminārētur.

     I accomplished this much, then, when I blocked you from the consulship: that you should attempt your harm as an exile rather than inflict it on the republic as consul, and that what you wickedly undertook should be called banditry rather than war.

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 6.34:

     ut potius in silvis Gallorum vita quam legionarius miles periclitetur

     that the life of Gauls might be hazarded in the woods rather than that of legionaries

   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 1.15:

     […] ut potius acie decernerent, quam inclusi de tectis moenibusque dimicarent.

     […] that they might combat in the field of battle rather than be shut up and fight from their roofs and city walls.

3. (along negative particles) instead
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.99-100:

     Quīn potius pācem aeternam pactōsque hymenaeōs / exercēmus?

     [Juno says to Venus:] “Instead, why don’t we pursue an enduring peace, and arrange marriage [for Dido and Aeneas]?”

4. (in aut / vel / ac / sed / seu potius) or rather, or I may better say
   • c. 45 BCE, Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 1.11.23:

     […] ; efficiet enim ratio ut, quaecumque vera sit earum sententiarum quas eui, mors aut malum non sit aut sit bonum potius.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 44 BCE, Cicero, Cato Major 35:

     Quam fuit imbecillus P. Africani filius, is qui te adoptavit, quam tenui aut nulla potius valetudine!

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Adjective

potius

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of potior

References

• “potius”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “potius”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "potius", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “potius”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) there is nothing I am more interested in than..: nihil antiquius or prius habeo quam ut (nihil mihi antiquius or potius est, quam ut)