potion
[poh-shuhn]
- a drink or draft, especially one having or reputed to have medicinal, poisonous, or magical powers: a love potion; a sleeping potion.
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Origin of potion
1300–50; Middle English pocion < Latin pōtiōn- (stem of pōtiō) a drinking, equivalent to pōt(us), variant of pōtātus, past participle of pōtāre to drink + -iōn- -ion; replacing Middle English pocioun < Anglo-French < Latin, as above
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
elixir, draught, cordial, tonic, mixture, libation, liquid, cup, liquor, drink, dose, dram, medicine, remedy, draft, brew, nip, restorative, stimulant, philterExamples from the Web for potion
Contemporary Examples
The rooms come equipped with 4-poster wooden beds, potion bottles, cauldrons, and Hogwartsian accents—perfect for us mere muggles.
Stay in the Magical ‘Harry Potter’ Hotel: London’s Georgian House Offers ‘Wizard’s Chambers’Marlow Stern
October 26, 2014
They are then blended with chicken broth and that potion is thickened with cream.
He takes the potion, regenerates and says, “Doctor, no more.”
They give him a potion that will let him pick his next regeneration.
Mr. Gold, however, had other ideas, and tricked both Emma and Regina (Lana Parilla), taking the potion for himself.
‘Homeland,’ ‘Revenge,’ ‘The Good Wife,’ ‘Sons of Anarchy’ and More: Where We Left OffJace Lacob, Maria Elena Fernandez
September 10, 2012
Historical Examples
Mrs Bangham submitted; and the doctor, having administered her potion, took his own.
Little DorritCharles Dickens
The opium that I had taken in my potion made my head rather heavy.
My Double LifeSarah Bernhardt
Or would you abstain from using the potion altogether, although you have no reason for abstaining?'
LawsPlato
But is there any potion which might serve as a test of overboldness and excessive and indiscreet boasting?
LawsPlato
At first poison was tried, but she suspected it, and would not take the potion.
England, Picturesque and DescriptiveJoel Cook
potion
- a drink, esp of medicine, poison, or some supposedly magic beverage
- a rare word for beverage
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Word Origin
C13: via Old French from Latin pōtiō a drink, especially a poisonous one, from pōtāre to drink
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for potion
n.
c.1300, pocioun "medicinal drink," from Old French pocion "potion, draught, medicine" (12c.), from Latin potionem (nominative potio) "a potion, a drinking," also "poisonous draught, magic potion," from potus, irregular past participle of potare "to drink," from PIE root *po(i)- "to drink" (cf. Sanskrit pati "drinks," panam "beverage;" Greek pinein "to drink," poton "that which one drinks," potos "drinking bout;" Old Church Slavonic piti "to drink," pivo "beverage"). Potus as a past participle adjective in Latin meant "drunken."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
potion
(pō′shən)- A liquid medicinal dose or drink.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.