The first records of the wordpotentcome from around the 1300s. It ultimately derives from the Latinpotentia, meaning “power.” The wordpotentialcomes from the same root. Potentis perhaps most commonly used in a medical context, in which it’s used to describe something that can have a stro...
(nominative potens) "powerful," present participle of posse "be able, be powerful," a contraction of potis esse "be powerful, be master," from potis "powerful, able, capable; possible;" of persons, "better, preferable; chief, principal; strongest, foremost," from PIE root *poti- "...