A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1986 (DOST Vol. VI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1400, 1494, 1549-1605
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Potent,n.1 Also: -ente, (patent). [ME and e.m.E. potent (Piers Plowman), potente (Chaucer), irreg. f. F. potence, (med.) L. potentia, Potence n.1Because of the similarity of scribal t and c some or all of the -te forms cited below, which include Loutfut examples, may perh. belong rather to Potence n.1]
1. A staff with a cross-piece to lean on, a crutch.Also applied to a bishop's staff or crozier, and to the armorial bearing, also attrib. in croce potent (e.m.E. 1610–), a cross in heraldry with the limbs ending in a T, i.e. resembling crutch-heads. a1400 Legends of the Saints xxix 28.
For the thryd fut hym worthis then Haf a potent hym on to len a1400 Ib. xl 495.
His [the bishop Ninian's] patent [a fugitive malefactor] can with hym ta Priuely, ore he wald ga a1400 Ib. 525, 529.
& sa, that patent [supra stafe; sc. Ninian's staff] gouernande Haile & sounde he com to lande … & the patent with hyme brocht 1494 Loutfut MS. 13 b.
And will ȝe wit quhat is potente luk the armes of Champargne 1494 Ib. 40 a.
Potentes [Lindsay MS. -ences] ar maid til sustene & to lene the body and the birdingis; a1586 Lindsay MS. 43.
Ane croce voide ane croce patte ane croce potente
2. A gibbet or gallows. 1549 Complaynte of Scotland 162/16.
He … gart heyde them, and syne he gart hyng ther quartars on potentis at diuerse comont passagis on the feildis 1549 Ib. 182/25.
He gart hang hym on ane potent befor the capitol
3. Appar., A post surmounted by a horizontal beam forming a crutch- or gibbet-like structure, from which was suspended a ring for tilting at.Cf. e.m.E. and F. potence id. (1611, Cotgrave). 1581 Treasurer's Accounts MS 50 (2).
At his [majesty's] ryding to Seytoun for thre ryngis to the potente iiij li. 1590 Cal. Sc. P. X 262.
That speares be made to run at the ringe with potentes to the same
b. ? Attrib., potent-speir, ? a spear used for tilting at the ring. 1605 Black Bk. Taymouth 344.
A potent speir
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"Potent n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/potent_n>
