pouvoir

Meaning

Verb

1. can, to be able to
2. may
3. to be possible; may, could be

Noun

1. power
2. authority
3. power of attorney

Pronounced as (IPA)

/pu.vwaʁ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French povoir, from Old French povoir, pooir, from earlier Old French poeir, podeir, from Vulgar Latin potēre, regularization of Latin posse. The /-v-/ was eventually added, after the loss of the intervocalic dental, to break hiatus. The archaic 1SG present indicative puis is from a Vulgar Latin *posseō (rather than possō), for which cf. Old Catalan puix.

Sentences

Le confinement , on aurait aimé pouvoir s’en passer .

Lockdown, we would have liked to have been able to do without it.

Enfin c’est en quelque sorte les saturnales du pouvoir .

Finally, they are in a way the saturnalia of power.

Leur unique mission est de convaincre Laurent Gbagbo d'abandonner de manière pacifique le pouvoir .

Their only mission is to convince Laurent Gbagbo to give up power peacefully.

Au fur et à mesure que diminue le pouvoir royal s'affirme celui des féodaux .

As royal power diminishes, that of the feudal lords asserts itself.