puissance
puis·sance/ˈpjuːɪ.s(ə)ns/noun
puissance is spelled P-U-I-S-S-A-N-C-E: 9 letters and 2 syllables (puis·sance). It appears about once in every 12 million words in written English, the 102,771st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, puissance means “power, might or potency” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of puissance is puissances.
How many letters and syllables are in puissance?
| Letters | 9: P-U-I-S-S-A-N-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: puis·sance |
| In writing | about once in every 12 million words; the 102,771st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is puissance?
Puissance appears about once in every 12 million words in written English, the 102,771st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce puissance?
- UK /ˈpjuːɪ.s(ə)ns/
- UK /ˈpwɪ-/
Puissance has 2 syllables, split puis·sance in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-puissance.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of puissance
- puissances plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does puissance mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
power, might or potency
Any impression of mental puissance might have been increased by the fact that I was usually to be seen working hard with notebook and biro, shaping up a new book review or a linking script […].
- 2
The high-jump component of the sport of show jumping.
noun
- 1
Alternative letter-case form of puissance.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Puissance in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense power, might or potency:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | puissance |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does puissance come from?
From Middle English puissaunce, from Anglo-Norman puissance, pusaunce, and other forms, from Old French puissant (“powerful”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).