possum

English

A brushtail possum in Australia

Etymology

Derived from opossum by apheresis.

Pronunciation

• enPR: pŏs'əm, IPA^(key): /ˈpɒsəm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒsəm

Noun

possum (plural possums)

1. (US) An opossum, a marsupial of the family Didelphidae of the Americas.
2. Any of the marsupials in several families of the order Diprotodontia of Australia and neighboring islands.

Derived terms

• act possum
• brush-tailed possum
• brushtail possum
• common possum
• common ringtail possum
• fairy possum
• Fergusson Island striped possum
• happy as a possum up a gum tree
• honey possum
• Leadbeater's possum
• northern brushtail possum
• play possum
• possum belly
• possum pie
• pygmy possum
• ringtail possum
• shrew possum
• Virginia possum

 

Related terms

• opossum

Translations

opossum — see opossum

marsupial of the order Diprotodontia

• Barngarla: birlda, wambala, bibara
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 袋貂 (zh) (dàidiāo)

• Finnish: harvaetuhampainen
• French: possum (fr) m
• German: Possum (de) n
• Guugu Yimidhirr: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: rókakuzu
• Irish: pasam m
• Japanese: ポッサム (possamu)
• Kaurna: pirlta, wangku, mami, wirrapi
• Kriol: posam
• Ngarrindjeri: miluri
• Nukunu: pirlta
• Russian: по́ссум (ru) m (póssum)
• Spanish: pósum m
• Wardaman: dilygun
• Woiwurrung: walert

See also

• possum on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Diprotodontia on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Didelphidae on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Verb

possum (third-person singular simple present possums, present participle possuming, simple past and past participle possumed)

1. (intransitive) To play possum; to feign sleep, illness, or death.

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *possom, from *potis (“master in control of”) + *som (“I am”). By surface analysis, potis + sum. Cognates include Oscan púttiad (“they can”) and South Picene puti (“I could”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈpos.sum/, [ˈpɔs̠ːʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpos.sum/, [ˈpɔsːum]

Verb

possum (present infinitive posse, perfect active potuī); irregular conjugation, irregular, no passive

1. be able to, can, may

   Synonyms: polleō, queō, valeō, praevaleō, vigeō

   Antonym: nequeō

   Tunc, modo edere non potuit ― At that time, he just wasn't able to eat

   Possum Latine loqui ― I am able to speak in Latin

   Potesne mihi succurrere, quaeso? ― Can you help me please?

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.39–41:

     “[...] Pallāsne exūrere classem
     Argīvum atque ipsōs potuit submergere pontō,
     ūnīus ob noxam et furiās Aiācis Oīlēī?”

     “Was not Pallas able to burn the Argive fleet and to drown [the men] themselves in the sea – [all] because of the crime and fury of [just] one man, Ajax, [son] of Oileus?”
     (Pallas or Athena meted divine retribution after the fall of Troy; there the Argive/Greek invaders had desecrated Athena’s temple, in which Ajax the Lesser assaulted Cassandra.)

   • 8 CE – 12 CE, Ovid, Sorrows 1.57–58:

     tū tamen ī prō mē, tū, cui licet, aspice Rōmam,
     dī facerent, possem nunc meus esse līber!

     Nevertheless, you go instead of me – you, to whom it is allowed, behold [the city of] Rome – Gods! [If only you] would grant [it], [that] now I would be able to be my book!
     (The exiled poet addresses his book as if it were a living emissary that he will send to Rome in his place. The optative subjunctive “facerent” expresses a wish, followed by the jussive subjunctive “possem” stating what the writer believes should be done.)

Conjugation

This verb is irregular, but synchronously resembles sum prefixed with pot-. Several contractions and simplifications occur, however, namely: -ts- → -ss-, -tf- → -t-, -tess- → -ss- (note that potēns does not originate from non-existent *fēns).

However, while this analysis works synchronically, diachronically, this relationship does not reflect a cognate historical relationship in all cases. For example, Osco-Umbrian forms confirm that a Proto-Italic verb Proto-Italic *poteō (“to be master”) (stem *pot-ē-) must also be reconstructed that, although lost in Latin otherwise, appears to have been the ultimate historical source of potuī and potēns.

In Vulgar Latin, the first person singular is changed to possō (causing the verb to be treated like a third conjugation verb (base poss-) in the present subjunctive (*possam, *possās)), while the third person plural (eī/eae/ea) possunt was preserved as such, though the rest of the verb became the second conjugation verb potēre ((tu) *potēs, (is/ea/id) *potet, (nōs) *potēmus and (vōs) *potētis), based on forms like potuī and potēns, just like velle (infinitive of volō) was reformed to *volēre after forms like voluī and volēns.

Conjugation of possum (highly irregular, suppletive, active only)
indicative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	possum	potes	potest	possumus	potestis	possunt
	imperfect	poteram	poterās	poterat	poterāmus	poterātis	poterant
	future	poterō	poteris, potere	poterit	poterimus	poteritis	poterunt
	perfect	potuī	potuistī	potuit	potuimus	potuistis	potuērunt, potuēre
	pluperfect	potueram	potuerās	potuerat	potuerāmus	potuerātis	potuerant
	future perfect	potuerō	potueris	potuerit	potuerimus	potueritis	potuerint
subjunctive		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	possim	possīs	possit	possīmus	possītis	possint
	imperfect	possem	possēs	posset	possēmus	possētis	possent
	perfect	potuerim	potuerīs	potuerit	potuerīmus	potuerītis	potuerint
	pluperfect	potuissem	potuissēs	potuisset	potuissēmus	potuissētis	potuissent
non-finite forms		active			passive
		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		posse	potuisse	—	—	—	—
participles		potēns	—	—	—	—	—

• Some passive forms are attested in pre-classical authors (e.g. potestur, poteratur, possitur, possetur).

Derived terms

• multum posse
• posse
• possibilis
• potēns
• potentia

Related terms

• absum
• adsum
• dēsum
• īnsum
• intersum
• obsum
• potentiālis
• potis
• praesum
• prōsum
• subsum
• sum
• supersum

Descendants

• Vulgar Latin: possō (see there for further descendants)

References

• “possum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “possum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• possum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to give a man the opportunity of doing a thing: facultatem alicui dare alicuius rei or ut possit...
    
  • I cannot make myself believe that..: non possum adduci, ut (credam)
    
  • I cannot bring myself to..: a me impetrare non possum, ut
    
  • he is a young man of great promise: adulescens alios bene de se sperare iubet, bonam spem ostendit or alii de adulescente bene sperare possunt
    
  • I have exhausted all my material: copiam quam potui persecutus sum
    
  • movable, personal property: res, quae moveri possunt; res moventes (Liv. 5. 25. 6)
    
  • to isolate a witness: aliquem a ceteris separare et in arcam conicere ne quis cum eo colloqui possit (Mil. 22. 60)
    
  • men of military age: qui arma ferre possunt or iuventus
    
  • men exempt from service owing to age: qui per aetatem arma ferre non possunt or aetate ad bellum inutiles
    
  • by the longest possible forced marches: quam maximis itineribus (potest)
    
  • this can be said of..., applies to..: hoc dici potest de aliqua re
    
  • this can be said of..., applies to..: hoc transferri potest in aliquid
    
  • I cannot find words for..: dici vix (non) potest or vix potest dici (vix like non always before potest)
    
  • without wishing to boast, yet..: quod vere praedicare possum
    
  • that is self-evident, goes without saying: hoc facile intellegi potest
    
  • from this it appears, is apparent: ex quo intellegitur or intellegi potest, debet
    
  • (ambiguous) to be scarcely able to restrain one's laughter: risum tenere vix posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be scarcely able to restrain one's laughter: risum aegre continere posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be hardly able to restrain one's tears: lacrimas tenere non posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be hardly able to restrain one's tears: fletum cohibere non posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be unable to speak for emotion: prae lacrimis loqui non posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be unable to sleep: somnum capere non posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to have great influence with a person; to have considerable weight: multum auctoritate valere, posse apud aliquem
    
  • (ambiguous) to have great weight as a speaker: multum dicendo valere, posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be unable to say all one wants: verbis non omnia exsequi posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to have a powerful navy: navibus plurimum posse
    
• possum in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016