potion
[ poh-shuhn ]
/ ˈpoʊ ʃən /
noun
a drink or draft, especially one having or reputed to have medicinal, poisonous, or magical powers: a love potion; a sleeping potion.
Nearby words
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
Can be confusedportion potion
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for potion
British Dictionary definitions for potion
potion
/ (ˈpəʊʃən) /
noun
a drink, esp of medicine, poison, or some supposedly magic beverage
a rare word for beverage
Word Origin for potion
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
potion
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."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Medicine definitions for potion
potion
[ pō′shən ]
n.
A liquid medicinal dose or drink.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.