puisne

puis·ne
P3U1I1S1N1E1
UK/ˈpjuːni/US/ˈpjuni/

adjective

Younger; junior.

“the puisne barons of the Court of Exchequer”

OriginMiddle French puisné ← Old French puisné ← Latin nātus →
First used 16th–19th c.Scrabble 8
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Meanings

adjectivepuisne (comparative more puisne, superlative most puisne)

comparative more puisne · superlative most puisne · alternative puny

  1. obsoleteYounger; junior.First known use 16th–19th c.
  2. obsoleteInsignificant, petty; ineffectual.First known use 16th–19th c.

    it is not conceptible that in an infinite , or indeed in a very long period of Revolutions of Mankind , those or any things of this kind discoverable would have been of so late a puiſne a discovery

    a. 1677 (date written), Matthew Hale, The Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature, London: […] William Godbid, for William Shrowsbery, […], published 1677, →OCLC
    1 more example

    But this intrigue of the ancient is a piece of private history, the truth of which my beloved cares not to own, and indeed, affects to disbelieve. As she does also some puisne gallantries of her foolish brother […].

    1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter CCXVII”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn, […], →OCLC
  3. lawInferior in rank, as designation of any justice, judge etc. other than the most senior.First known use 17th c.

    the puisne barons of the Court of Exchequer

  4. lawComing later in time; subsequent, secondary.First known use 17th c.

    a puisne date to eternity

    a. 1677 (date written), Matthew Hale, The Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature, London: […] William Godbid, for William Shrowsbery, […], published 1677, →OCLC
nounpuisne (plural puisnes)

plural puisnes

  1. A person of puisne rank.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
puny

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*pós
  2. Proto-Indo-European*pósti
  3. Proto-Italic*posti
  4. Old Latinposte
  5. Latinpost
  6. Proto-Indo-European*íh₂
  7. Latinea
  8. Latinposteā
  9. Vulgar Latin*postius
  10. Old Frenchpuis
  11. Proto-Indo-European*ǵenh₁-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*ǵn̥h₁tós
  13. Proto-Italic*gnātos
  14. Latingnātus
  15. Latinnātus
  16. Old Frenchné
  17. Old Frenchpuisné
  18. Middle Frenchpuisné
  19. Englishpuisne

PIE word *pós From Anglo-Norman puisné (“later, more recent; junior; weakly”) [and other forms] and Middle French puisné (“born after (a specified person); younger, youngest; one who is born after (a specified person)”) (modern French puîné (“cadet (born after a sibling); a cadet (someone born after a sibling)”)), from puis (“after; since”) + né (“born”). Puis is derived from Old French pois (“after; since”), from Vulgar Latin *postius (“afterward”), from Latin posteā (“afterwards; hereafter; thereafter; next, then”), from post (“after; since”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pós (“afterwards”)) + ea (“these (things)”); and né from Latin nātus (“born”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget; to give birth; to produce”).

More words from Anglo-Norman, Middle French, Old French

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with puisne

uniRooneyClooneypunyZuniJuniekitsunemoonyspoonycroonyduneyprunyspoonie
All rhymes →

Sounds the same

punypuny

Anagrams

supinepunies
Cite this entry
APA

puisne. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/puisne

MLA

“puisne.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/puisne. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “puisne,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/puisne.

Source: puisne on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.