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opossum [opossum 词源字典]: opossum: [17] Opossum comes from aposoum, a word in Virginia Algonquian meaning literally ‘white animal’. The shortened form possum is virtually contemporary with it. When referring to the animal, opossum is now the more usual term, but possum holds its own in the expression play possum ‘feign death or sleep’. Dating from the early 19th century, it alludes to the opossum’s habit of pretending to be dead when threatened.
[opossum etymology, opossum origin, 英语词源]
posse: posse: [17] Posse was the Latin verb for ‘be able’. It was a conflation of an earlier expression potis esse ‘be able’; and potis ‘able’ was descended from an Indo-European base *potthat also produced Sanskrit pati- ‘master, husband’ and Lithuanian patis ‘husband’. In medieval Latin posse came to be used as a noun meaning ‘power, force’.

It formed the basis of the expression posse comitātus, literally ‘force of the county’, denoting a body of men whom the sheriff of a county was empowered to raise for such purposes as suppressing a riot. The abbreviated form posse emerged at the end of the 17th century, but really came into its own in 18th- and 19th-century America.
=> possible, potent
possess: possess: [15] Latin potis ‘able, having power’ (source of English posse and potent) was combined with the verb sīdere ‘sit down’ (a relative of English sit) to form a new verb possīdere. This meant literally ‘sit down as the person in control’, hence by extension ‘take possession of’ and ultimately ‘have, own’. It passed into English via Old French possesser.
=> possible, potent, sit
possible: possible: [14] Latin posse ‘be able’ (source of English posse) produced the derived adjective possibilis ‘that can be done’, which came into English via Old French possible. (Its antonym impossible reached English at roughly the same time.)
=> posse, potent
dispossess (v.): late 15c., from Old French despossesser "to dispossess," from des- (see dis-) + possesser (see possess). Related: Dispossessed; dispossessing.
dispossession (n.): 1570s, noun of action from dispossess.
impossibility (n.): late 14c., "quality of being impossible," from impossible + -ity; perhaps from or modeled on French impossibilité. Meaning "an impossible thing or occurrence" is from c. 1500.
impossible (adj.): late 14c., from Old French impossible, from Latin impossibilis "not possible," from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + possibilis (see possible). Related: Impossibly.
opossum (n.): 1610, from Powhatan (Algonquian) opassum, "equivalent to a proto-Algonquian term meaning 'white dog'" [Bright].
posse (n.): 1640s (in Anglo-Latin from early 14c.), shortening of posse comitatus "the force of the county" (1620s, in Anglo-Latin from late 13c.), from Medieval Latin posse "body of men, power," from Latin posse "have power, be able" (see potent) + comitatus "of the county," genitive of Late Latin word for "court palace" (see comitatus). Modern slang meaning "small gang" is probably from Western movies.
possess (v.): late 14c., "to hold, occupy, reside in" (without regard to ownership), a back formation from possession and in part from Old French possesser "to have and hold, take, be in possession of" (mid-13c.), from Latin possess-, past participle stem of possidere "to have and hold, possess, be master of, own," from posse "to be able," from potis "able, powerful" (see potent) + esse "to be" (see be). Meaning "to hold as property" is recorded from c. 1500. Demonic sense is recorded from 1530s (implied in possessed). Related: Possessed; possessing.
possessed (adj.): "controlled by an indwelling demon," 1530s, past participle adjective from possess (v.).
possession (n.): mid-14c., "act or fact of possessing, a taking possession, occupation," also "thing possessed, that which is possessed," from Old French possession "fact of having and holding; what is possessed;" also "demonic possession," and directly from Latin possessionem (nominative possessio), noun of action from past participle stem of possidere "to possess" (see possess). Legal property sense is earliest; demonic sense first recorded 1580s. Phrase possession is nine (or eleven) points of the law is out of a supposed 10 (or 12). With eleven from 1640s; with nine from 1690s.
possessive (adj.): mid-15c. (grammatical, also as a noun); 1550s in general use, from Middle French possessif (15c.) "relating to possession, possessive," and directly from Latin possessivus, from possess-, past participle stem of possidere "to possess" (see possess). Related: Possessively; possessiveness.
posset (n.): spiced drink of hot milk and liquor, mid-15c., of unknown origin.
possibility (n.): late 14c., "condition of being possible," from Old French possibilité (13c.) and directly from Latin possibilitatem (nom. possibilitas) "possibility," from possibilis (see possible (adj.)). Meaning "a possible thing or substance" is from c. 1400. Related: Possibilities.
possible (adj.): mid-14c., from Old French possible and directly from Latin possibilis "that can be done," from posse "be able" (see potent).
possible (n.): 1640s, from possible (adj.).
possibly (adv.): c. 1400, from possible (adj.) + -ly (2).
POSSLQ: 1979, acronym from person of opposite sex sharing living quarters; it never was an official category.
possum (n.): 1610s, shortened form of opossum. Phrase play possum is first recorded 1822.
prepossess (v.): 1610s, "to get possession of beforehand," from pre- + possess. Meaning "to possess (a person) beforehand with a feeling, notion, etc." is from 1630s; specifically, "to cause (someone) to have a favorable opinion of something" (1640s). Related: Prepossessed; prepossessing.
prepossessing (adj.): 1640s, "causing prejudice," present participle adjective from prepossess. Opposite meaning "causing agreeable first impression" first recorded 1805.
prepossession (n.): 1640s, noun of action from prepossess (v.).
repossess (v.): late 15c., "to reoccupy;" see re- "back, again" + possess. Meaning "take back from a purchaser who defaults on payments" first recorded 1933. Related: Repossessed; repossessing.
repossession (n.): 1580s, from re- + possession.
self-possession (n.): "command of one's emotions," 1745, from self- + possession (n.). Related: Self-possessed.
unprepossessing (adj.): 1816, from un- (1) "not" + prepossessing (adj.).