Today's Word "Plenipotentiary"
Published in Vocabulary
plenipotentiary \ple-ni-peh-TEN-chi-e-ri\ (adjective) - Invested with full power to reach decisions.
"Mr. Burns sent Homer to act as plenipotentiary to settle the dispute with the union."
Medieval Latin plenipotentiarius "invested with full power" from Latin plenus "full" + potens "powerful." "Plenus" derives from pel- which also gave English "full" and, via Latin, "plenty," not to mention Russian "polnyi." "Potens" is related to "possible" from Latin posse "to be able" and Persian pasha "master, lord."
Comments