puissance
/ˈpjuːɪs(ə)ns
/ /ˈpwiːɪs(ə)ns/ /ˈpwɪs(ə)ns/noun [mass noun]
1ˈpwiːsɒ̃s (Puissance) A competitive test of a horse’s ability to jump large obstacles in showjumping: nine horses contested last night’s Puissance [as modifier]: a Puissance horse...
- This was done in one of the Puissance competitions.
- Harry, riding XL, and Conor were two of six riders to share second place in Saturday's Puissance.
- Samsung and Fáilte Ireland, the principal sponsors, are this year joined by Land Rover Ireland which adds its name to the Puissance (high wall) competition.
2 archaic or literary Great power, influence, or prowess.All three sections begin powerfully and carry that puissance - and often it's not a force that we nor the narrator can control - throughout the section....
- A combination of apparently unlimited electoral puissance and an underlying lack of both intellectual self-confidence and political principle has destabilised him.
- But their puissance cannot conceal their incurable inferiority.
Origin
Late Middle English (in sense 2): from Old French, 'power', from puissant 'having power' (see puissant). Sense 1 dates from the 1950s.