pot
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English pot, potte, from Old English pott (“a pot”) and Old French pot ("pot"; probably from Frankish *pott); both Old English and Frankish from Proto-Germanic *puttaz (“pot”), from Proto-Indo-European *budnós (“a type of vessel”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Pot (“pot”), Dutch pot (“pot”), Low German Pott (“pot”), German Pott (“pot”), Swedish pott (“pot”), Icelandic pottur (“tub, pot”), Old Armenian պոյտն (poytn, “pot, earthen pot”).
The sense of ruin or deterioration was originally euphemistic for shit (as in go to shit), from pot's use for its containers. The slang term for toilets and the lavatory similarly derive from the earlier chamberpots although now usually encountered as potty during children's toilet training.
Noun
pot (plural pots)
- A flat-bottomed vessel (usually metal) used for cooking food.
- Synonyms: cookpot, cooking pot
- Various similar open-topped vessels, particularly
- A vessel (usually earthenware) used with a seal for storing food, such as a honeypot.
- A vessel used for brewing or serving drinks: a coffee or teapot.
- A vessel used to hold soil for growing plants, particularly flowers: a flowerpot.
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 10, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
- He looked round the poor room, at the distempered walls, and the bad engravings in meretricious frames, the crinkly paper and wax flowers on the chiffonier; and he thought of a room like Father Bryan's, with panelling, with cut glass, with tulips in silver pots, such a room as he had hoped to have for his own.
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- (archaic except in fixed expressions) A vessel used for urination and defecation: a chamber pot; (figuratively, slang) a toilet; the lavatory.
- Synonyms: can, chamber pot, potty, shitpot; see also Thesaurus:chamber pot
- Shit or get off the pot.
- 2011, Ben Zeller, Secrets of Beaver Creek, p. 204:
- “Clinton,” Gail cried from outside, “are you going to sit on the pot all day?”
- A crucible: a melting pot.
- A pot-shaped trap used for catching lobsters or other seafood: a lobster pot.
- Synonyms: lobster pot, lobster trap
- A pot-shaped metal or earthenware extension of a flue above the top of a chimney: a chimney pot.
- A perforated cask for draining sugar.
- (obsolete) An earthen or pewter cup or mug used for drinking liquor.
- (Australia, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania) A glass of beer in Australia whose size varies regionally but is typically around 10 fl oz (285 mL).
- 2009, Deborah Penrith & al., Live & Work in Australia, p. 187:
- There are plenty of pubs and bars all over Australia (serving beer in schooners – 425ml or middies/pots ~285ml), and if you don′t fancy those you can drink in wine bars, pleasant beer gardens, or with friends at home.
- 2009, Deborah Penrith & al., Live & Work in Australia, p. 187:
- (archaic except in place names) Pothole, sinkhole, vertical cave e.g. Rowten Pot
- (slang) Ruin or deterioration.
- After his arrest, his prospects went to pot.
- (historical) An iron hat with a broad brim worn as a helmet.
- 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 12:
- The pot is an iron hat with broad brims: there are many under the denomination in the Tower, said to have been taken from the French...
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- (rail transport) A pot-shaped non-conducting (usually ceramic) stand that supports an electrified rail while insulating it from the ground.
- (gambling, poker) The money available to be won in a hand of poker or a round of other games of chance; (figuratively) any sum of money being used as an enticement.
- Synonyms: kitty, pool
- No one's interested. You need to sweeten the pot.
- (Britain, horse-racing, slang) A favorite: a heavily-backed horse.
- (billiards) The act of causing a ball to fall into a pocket in cue sports such as billiards.
- Synonym: winning hazard
- (slang) Clipping of potbelly: a pot-shaped belly, a paunch.
- 1994, Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction:
- Fabienne: I wish I had a pot.
Butch: You were lookin' in the mirror and you wish you had some pot?
Fabienne: A pot. A pot belly. Pot bellies are sexy.
Butch: Well you should be happy, 'cause you do.
Fabienne: Shut up, Fatso! I don't have a pot! I have a bit of a tummy, like Madonna when she did "Lucky Star". It's not the same thing.
- Fabienne: I wish I had a pot.
- 1994, Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction:
- (slang) Clipping of potshot: a haphazard shot; an easy or cheap shot.
- 2011 October 1, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland”, in BBC Sport:
- England were shipping penalties at an alarming rate - five in the first 15 minutes alone - and with Wilkinson missing three long-distance pots of his own in the first 20 minutes, the alarm bells began to ring for Martin Johnson's men.
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- (chiefly East Midlands, Yorkshire) A plaster cast.
- (historical) Alternative form of pott: a former size of paper, 12.5 × 15 inches.
Derived terms
- chamberpot, chamber pot
- coffeepot, coffee pot
- cookpot
- go to pot
- honeypot
- hot pot
- pisspot, piss pot
- pot ale
- pot-au-feu
- potbelly
- potboil
- potboiler, pot boiler
- pot life
- potholder, pot holder
- pothole
- pot-in-pot
- pot roast
Translations
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See also
Verb
pot (third-person singular simple present pots, present participle potting, simple past and past participle potted)
- To put (something) into a pot.
- to pot a plant
- To preserve by bottling or canning.
- potted meat
- (cue sports) To cause a ball to fall into a pocket.
- (cue sports) To be capable of being potted.
- The black ball doesn't pot; the red is in the way.
- (transitive) To shoot with a firearm.
- Encyclopaedia of Sport
- When hunted, it [the jaguar] takes refuge in trees, and this habit is well known to hunters, who pursue it with dogs and pot it when treed.
- Encyclopaedia of Sport
- (intransitive, dated) To take a pot shot, or haphazard shot, with a firearm.
- (transitive, colloquial) To secure; gain; win; bag.
- (Britain) To send someone to gaol, expeditiously.
- (obsolete, dialectal, Britain) To tipple; to drink.
- Feltham
- It is less labour to plough than to pot it.
- Feltham
- (transitive) To drain (e.g. sugar of the molasses) in a perforated cask.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of B. Edwards to this entry?)
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
- (transitive, Britain) To seat a person, usually a young child, on a potty or toilet, typically during toilet teaching.
- 1975, Nancie R. Finnie, Handling the Young Cerebral Palsied Child, →ISBN, page 75:
- Ideally the best Ideally the best way of tackling the problem of toilet training, is to 'pot' your child at set intervals when he is at home, even though he may no longer be a baby, thus establishing a regular routine instead of one at odd intervals.
- 1978 -, Penelope Leach, Your Baby & Child from Birth to Age Five, →ISBN, page 225:
- If you leave out this “catching" stage altogether and start proper toilet training at, say, eighteen months you will only have to pot your baby about 2000 times for the same effect.
- 2004, Joan Gomez, Coping with Incontinence, →ISBN, page 33:
- Do not make the mistake of potting your baby as early as possible, but wait until she gives the signal that she is aware that puddles are somehow to do with her.
- 2012, Nanny Smith & Nina Grunfeld, Nanny Knows Best: Successful Potty Training, →ISBN:
- Of course, if at any stage your child takes a violent dislike to the pot, then I would put it away for a few weeks and then try again, but if the pot is very comfortable, your attitude is calm and you don't over-pot your child (put him on the pot too often or talk about the pot too much), this shouldn't happen.
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- (chiefly East Midlands) To apply a plaster cast to a broken limb.
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
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Etymology 2
Possibly a shortened form of Mexican Spanish potiguaya (“marijuana leaves”) or potaguaya (“cannabis leaves”) or potación de guaya (literally “drink of grief”), supposedly denoting a drink of wine or brandy in which marijuana buds were steeped.
Synonyms
- See Thesaurus:marijuana.
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 3
Clipping of potentiometer.
Noun
pot (plural pots)
- (slang, electronics) A simple electromechanical device used to control resistance or voltage (often to adjust sound volume) in an electronic device by rotating or sliding when manipulated by a human thumb, screwdriver, etc.
Derived terms
- slide pot, a sliding (linear) potentiometer typically designed to be manipulated by a thumb or finger
- thumb pot, a rotating potentiometer designed to be turned by a thumb or finger
Etymology 4
Clipping of potion.
References
- “pot” in Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary: Based on Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 8th edition, Springfield, Mass.: G[eorge] & C[harles] Merriam, 1973 (1974 printing), OCLC 299192187.
- “pot” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.
Albanian
Etymology
From Romance *pottus (“pot”).
Aromanian
Alternative forms
Etymology
From a Vulgar Latin *poteō, from Latin possum (formed analogically in post-Classical Latin on the basis of potens, the present participle of possum). Compare Romanian putea, pot.
Basque
Catalan
Czech
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *potъ (“sweat”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pot/
Declension
Related terms
- potit se
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɔt/
audio (file) - Hyphenation: pot
- Rhymes: -ɔt
Etymology 1
From Middle Dutch pot, further etymology unclear. Cognates are only found in the northern West Germanic languages. Possibly a loan from Celtic.
Noun
Descendants
- Afrikaans: pot
Etymology 2
Clipping of lollepot.
Etymology 3
See the etymology of the main entry.
Verb
pot
- first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of potten
- imperative of potten
French
Etymology 1
From Middle French pot, from Old French pot (“pot”), from Vulgar Latin pottum, pottus (“pot, jar”), from Proto-Germanic *puttaz (“pot, jar, tub”), from Proto-Indo-European *budn- (“a kind of vessel”). More at pot.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /po/
audio (file) - (Belgium) IPA(key): /pɔ/
Audio (Belgium) (file)
Noun
pot m (plural pots)
- pot, jar, vase, tin, can, carton (container of any of various materials)
- cooking pot (any vessel used to cook food)
- (cooking) dish
- (childish) potty (the pot used when toilet-training children)
- (colloquial) drink, jar, bevvy (alcoholic beverage)
- (colloquial) do (UK), bash, drinks party (small, informal party or celebration)
- (card games) pot, kitty, pool (money staked at cards, etc.)
- (informal) luck (success; chance occurrence, especially when favourable)
- (oenology) half-litre bottle or measure of wine
- pre-metric unit of measure, equivalent to 1.5 litres
- paper size, about 40 by 31 cm
- (slang, vulgar) arse, ass (buttocks)
Derived terms
- avoir du pot
- en avoir plein le pot
- en deux coups de cuillère à pot
- faire son pot
- pot à fleur
- potage
- potager
- pot-au-feu
- pot aux roses
- pot catalytique
- pot commun
- pot d'échappement
- pot de colle
- pot de fleurs
- pot-de-vin
- pot-de-vinier
- potée
- poterie
- potier
- pot-pourri
- se manier le pot
- sourd comme un pot
- tourner autour du pot
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɔt/
References
- Nouveau Petit Larousse illustré. Dictionnaire encyclopédique. Paris, Librairie Larousse, 1952, 146th edition
Further reading
- “pot” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Middle Dutch
Etymology
Unknown.
Inflection
This noun needs an inflection-table template.
Middle English
Etymology
From Old English pott and Old French pot, both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *puttaz, from Proto-Indo-European *budnós.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɔt/
Noun
pot (plural pottes)
- A pot; a circular receptacle or vessel:
- (rare) The top of the skull.
- (rare) A shard of earthen material.
References
- “pot(e (n.(1))” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-22.
Norman
Etymology
From Old French pot (“pot”), from Vulgar Latin pottum, pottus (“pot, jar”), from Proto-Germanic *puttaz (“pot, jar, tub”), from Proto-Indo-European *budn- (“a kind of vessel”).
Derived terms
- pot à flieurs (“flowerpot”)
- pot à thée (“teapot”)
- potée (“potful”)
- potîn (“small pot”)
- pot'tie (“pottery”)
Old French
Etymology 1
From Vulgar Latin pottum, pottus (“pot, jar”), from Proto-Germanic *puttaz (“pot, jar, tub”), from Proto-Indo-European *budn- (“a kind of vessel”). More at pot.
Noun
pot m (oblique plural poz or potz, nominative singular poz or potz, nominative plural pot)
- pot (storage/cooking vessel)
References
- Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (pot, supplement)
Etymology 2
see poeir.
Polish
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *potъ (“sweat”)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɔt/
Audio (file)
Declension
Derived terms
Romanian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [pot]
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *potъ.
Slovene
Etymology 1
From Proto-Slavic *pǫtь.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpóːt/
- Tonal orthography: pọ́t
Declension
This noun needs an inflection-table template.
Etymology 2
From Proto-Slavic *potъ.
Pronunciation
- Tonal orthography: pọ̑t
Declension
Tatar
Noun
pot
- (archaic) A unit of volume: 1 pot, the volume of 16 kg of water.
- (archaic) A unit of weight: 1 pot = 40 qadaq = 16.380 kg .
Declension
Nominative | pot |
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Genitive | potnıñ |
Dative | potqa |
Accusative | potnı |
Locative | potta |
Ablative | pottan |