possum

Derived from opossum by apheresis.

• enPR: pŏs'əm, IPA^(key): /ˈpɒsəm/[1][2]

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒsəm

possum (plural possums)

1. (US) An opossum, a marsupial of the family Didelphidae of the Americas.
2. Any of the marsupials in several families of the order Diprotodontia of Australia and neighboring islands.

• brushtail possum
• Fergusson Island striped possum
• play possum
• common ringtail possum

• opossum

• possum on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Diprotodontia on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Didelphidae on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

possum (third-person singular simple present possums, present participle possuming, simple past and past participle possumed)

1. (intransitive) To play possum; to feign sleep, illness, or death.

From Proto-Italic *possom, from *potis (“master in control of”) + *som (“I am”). Cognates include Oscan púttiad (“they can”) and South Picene puti (“I could”).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpos.sum/, [ˈpɔs̠ːʊ̃ˑ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpos.sum/, [ˈpɔsːum]

• Audio (Classical)

  (file)

possum (present infinitive posse, perfect active potuī); irregular conjugation, irregular, no passive

1. I am able, I can, I may
   • 8 CE – 12 CE, Ovid, Tristia 1.57-58:

     tū tamen ī prō mē, tū, cui licet, aspice Rōmam,
     dī facerent, possem nunc meus esse līber!

     Nevertheless, you go instead of me – you, to whom it is allowed, behold [the city of] Rome – Gods! [If only you] would grant [it], [that] now I would be able to be my book!
     (The exiled poet addresses his book as if it were a living emissary that he will send to Rome in his place. The optative subjunctive “facerent” expresses a wish, followed by the jussive subunctive “possem” stating what the writer believes should be done.)

   Synonyms: polleō, queō, valeō, praevaleō

   Antonym: nequeō

   • Tunc, modo edere non potuit ― At that time, he just wasn't able to eat
   • Possum Latine loqui ― I am able to speak in Latin
   • Potesne mihi succurrere, quaeso? ― Can you help me please?

This verb is irregular, but resembles sum prefixed with pot-. Several contractions and simplifications occur, however: -ts- → -ss-, -tf- → -t-, -tess- → -ss- (note that potēns does not originate from non-existent *fēns).

In Vulgar Latin, the first person singular is changed to possō (causing the verb to be treated like a third conjugation verb (base poss-) in the present subjunctive (*possam, *possās)), though the rest of the verb became the second conjugation verb potēre ((tu) *potēs, (is/ea/id) *potet, (nōs) *potēmus, (vōs) *potētis, and (eī/eae/ea) *possunt), based on forms like potuī and potēns, just like velle (infinitive of volō) was reformed to *volēre after forms like voluī and volēns.

However, Osco-Umbrian forms confirm that a Proto-Italic verb Proto-Italic *poteō (“to be master”) (stem *pot-ē-) must also be reconstructed that, although lost in Latin otherwise, appears to have been the ultimate historical source of potuī and potēns.[1]

• Some passive forms are attested in pre-classical authors (e.g. potestur, poteratur, possitur, possetur).

• multum posse
• possibilis
• potēns
• potentia

• Vulgar Latin: possō (see there for further descendants)

• “possum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “possum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• possum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to give a man the opportunity of doing a thing: facultatem alicui dare alicuius rei or ut possit...
    
  • I cannot make myself believe that..: non possum adduci, ut (credam)
    
  • I cannot bring myself to..: a me impetrare non possum, ut
    
  • he is a young man of great promise: adulescens alios bene de se sperare iubet, bonam spem ostendit or alii de adulescente bene sperare possunt
    
  • I have exhausted all my material: copiam quam potui persecutus sum
    
  • movable, personal property: res, quae moveri possunt; res moventes (Liv. 5. 25. 6)
    
  • to isolate a witness: aliquem a ceteris separare et in arcam conicere ne quis cum eo colloqui possit (Mil. 22. 60)
    
  • men of military age: qui arma ferre possunt or iuventus
    
  • men exempt from service owing to age: qui per aetatem arma ferre non possunt or aetate ad bellum inutiles
    
  • by the longest possible forced marches: quam maximis itineribus (potest)
    
  • this can be said of..., applies to..: hoc dici potest de aliqua re
    
  • this can be said of..., applies to..: hoc transferri potest in aliquid
    
  • I cannot find words for..: dici vix (non) potest or vix potest dici (vix like non always before potest)
    
  • without wishing to boast, yet..: quod vere praedicare possum
    
  • that is self-evident, goes without saying: hoc facile intellegi potest
    
  • from this it appears, is apparent: ex quo intellegitur or intellegi potest, debet
    
  • (ambiguous) to be scarcely able to restrain one's laughter: risum tenere vix posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be scarcely able to restrain one's laughter: risum aegre continere posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be hardly able to restrain one's tears: lacrimas tenere non posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be hardly able to restrain one's tears: fletum cohibere non posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be unable to speak for emotion: prae lacrimis loqui non posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be unable to sleep: somnum capere non posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to have great influence with a person; to have considerable weight: multum auctoritate valere, posse apud aliquem
    
  • (ambiguous) to have great weight as a speaker: multum dicendo valere, posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be unable to say all one wants: verbis non omnia exsequi posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to have a powerful navy: navibus plurimum posse
    
• possum in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016