potus

See also: POTUS

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈpoː.tʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈpɔː.tus]

Etymology 1

Ultimately from the root Proto-Indo-European *peh₃-. De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *pōtos (“drunk”) from Proto-Indo-European *ph₃tós (“(having been) drunk; having drunk”) with replacement of expected *-a- by *-ō- under the influence of the root aorist *péh₃t. Possibly cognate with Umbrian punes, which could come from a pre-form *pō-ni-.

Aside from its use as an adjective, pōtus also functions synchronically in Latin as an anomalously formed perfect passive participle of the verb pōtō (“to drink”), competing with the regularly formed pōtātus.

Adjective

pōtus (feminine pōta, neuter pōtum); first/second-declension participle

1. drunk (intoxicated)

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:ebrius

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	pōtus	pōta	pōtum		pōtī	pōtae	pōta
genitive	pōtī	pōtae	pōtī		pōtōrum	pōtārum	pōtōrum
dative	pōtō	pōtae	pōtō		pōtīs
accusative	pōtum	pōtam	pōtum		pōtōs	pōtās	pōta
ablative	pōtō	pōtā	pōtō		pōtīs
vocative	pōte	pōta	pōtum		pōtī	pōtae	pōta

Participle

pōtus (feminine pōta, neuter pōtum); first/second-declension participle

1. drunk, having been drunk
2. drained, having been drained
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 6.777–778:

     pars pede, pars etiam celerī dēcurrite cumbā,
     nec pudeat pōtōs inde redīre domum

     Some [go] by foot, some even sail down with a swift skiff; and be not ashamed – having drained [many cups] – to return home from there.
     (Which is to say that, with so many cups having been drained, the people have become drunk or intoxicated at the June festival of Fors Fortuna.)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	pōtus	pōta	pōtum		pōtī	pōtae	pōta
genitive	pōtī	pōtae	pōtī		pōtōrum	pōtārum	pōtōrum
dative	pōtō	pōtae	pōtō		pōtīs
accusative	pōtum	pōtam	pōtum		pōtōs	pōtās	pōta
ablative	pōtō	pōtā	pōtō		pōtīs
vocative	pōte	pōta	pōtum		pōtī	pōtae	pōta

Etymology 2

A noun in -tus built on the same stem as pōtus (adjective/participle).

Noun

pōtus m (genitive pōtūs); fourth declension

1. drink, draught
2. drinking (action)

Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	pōtus	pōtūs
genitive	pōtūs	pōtuum
dative	pōtuī	pōtibus
accusative	pōtum	pōtūs
ablative	pōtū	pōtibus
vocative	pōtus	pōtūs

Descendants

• → Italian: poto
• → Portuguese: poto

References

• “potus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “potus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "potus", 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)
• “potus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “pōtus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 485