I chose the word puissant, because it is very nearly a
conjugation of the word pouvoir in French (which means to be able) and I
wondered if that was anywhere near its actual meaning. Gulliver refers to the
king of Lillipus as the “most puissant king” upon meeting him.
According the OED, puissant means: possessed of or wielding power; having great authority or influence; mighty, potent, powerful. So, it's a pretty obvious reason as to why Gulliver chose to refer to the king as puissant. Oddly enough, that is the only definition for the word other than a puissant being or person, so there isn't much room for interpretation either. I expected a play on words from Swift, so I was a bit disappointed. The word dates back to the 15th century.
Hoping on over to ECCO, typing in puissant wields a surprising 3609 hits. Narrowing the date to 1720-30 bring the number to a much more approachable 206 with the largest category being Literature and Language. Unfortunately, I found that the word doesn't seem to be prevelant in one particular subject that would lend a specific connotation to the word, rather it is used widely in works of fiction. It even showed up in Arabian Nights (once again in reference to a monarch). So it seems Swift simply used the rather uncommon word simply because it best described a positive trait for a king. Gulliver was seeking to appease the King of Lilliput, so why not call him something flattering in the process. A pretty straightforward discovery.
According the OED, puissant means: possessed of or wielding power; having great authority or influence; mighty, potent, powerful. So, it's a pretty obvious reason as to why Gulliver chose to refer to the king as puissant. Oddly enough, that is the only definition for the word other than a puissant being or person, so there isn't much room for interpretation either. I expected a play on words from Swift, so I was a bit disappointed. The word dates back to the 15th century.
Hoping on over to ECCO, typing in puissant wields a surprising 3609 hits. Narrowing the date to 1720-30 bring the number to a much more approachable 206 with the largest category being Literature and Language. Unfortunately, I found that the word doesn't seem to be prevelant in one particular subject that would lend a specific connotation to the word, rather it is used widely in works of fiction. It even showed up in Arabian Nights (once again in reference to a monarch). So it seems Swift simply used the rather uncommon word simply because it best described a positive trait for a king. Gulliver was seeking to appease the King of Lilliput, so why not call him something flattering in the process. A pretty straightforward discovery.
Straightforward discoveries? I'm for them. I had a similar experience with the word Yahoo except, most of my hits on ECCO were a much smaller.. much smaller amount. Also I did not know that pouvoir means to be able to in French. Sweet.
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