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“puissance”
1. Power to influence or to coerce: The chief executive officer has the puissance necessary to convince or to control the way people react to the economic conditions in his company.
2. Power, might, or force: The puissance of the mayor with his new local taxes was not appreciated by the citizens of the city.
3. Etymology: from late Middle-English, "great power, great influence"; from Old French, "power"; from puissant, "having power".
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2. Power, might, or force: The puissance of the mayor with his new local taxes was not appreciated by the citizens of the city.
3. Etymology: from late Middle-English, "great power, great influence"; from Old French, "power"; from puissant, "having power".
Although the cartoon is presenting an adjective, it is used here because it helps to understand this noun form.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
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This entry is located in the following units:
-ance, -ancy
(page 10)
poten-, pot-, poss-, -potent, -potence, -potency, -potential +
(page 7)
Word Entries at Get Words:
“puissance”
puissance (no plural)
The power to influence or to coerce. (1)
This entry is located in the following unit:
Word a Day Revisited Index of Cartoons Illustrating the Meanings of Words
(page 66)