Potion

How to spell potion

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce potion

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does potion mean?

1. nounA liquid mixture, often magical or medicinal, prepared to be drunk for a particular effect.

Potion in a sentence

• The wizard in the novel brewed a potion to cure the fever.

• The costume shop sold tiny bottles labelled as a love potion.

Where does potion come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin potio, in its stem form potionis, meaning 'a drink' or 'a draught', which was built on the verb potare, 'to drink'. The same drinking root sits behind the English word 'potable', meaning fit to drink, which is a useful memory link for the unexpected 'pot' at the start. English took the word in the 1200s through Old French pocion or poison, and remarkably 'poison' is the very same Latin word travelling down a separate path, since a potion could be either a healing draught or a deadly one. Over time English settled 'potion' on the magical or medicinal liquid sense, while the harmful sense hardened into 'poison'. The spelling keeps the Latin -tion ending pronounced 'shun', which is the small trap for writers who hear the sound and reach for the wrong letters.

How the word is built

• pot- (from Latin potare: to drink)
• -ion (noun-forming suffix)