Etymology

plenipotentiary

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Today it means: A person invested with full powers, especially as the diplomatic agent of a sovereign state, (originally) charged with handling a certain matter. Full definition →

First used c. 1645Medieval Latin plēnipotentiārius ← Late Latin plēnipotēns
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The story

  1. Late Latin · derived fromplēnipotēns
  2. Medieval Latin · borrowed fromplēnipotentiārius“having full power”
  3. English todayplenipotentiary

From Medieval Latin plēnipotentiārius (“having full power”), Late Latin plēnipotēns, from plēnus (“full”) + potēns (“mighty, powerful”).

First known use, by meaning

  • from c. 1645 A person invested with full powers, especially as the diplomatic agent of a sovereign state, (originally) charged with handling a certain matter.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.