English 'potion' and 'poison' are doublets from the same Latin source pōtiō ('a drink'), itself from PIE *peh₃- ('to drink'), a root that also produced 'potable,' 'potent,' and 'potential' — connecting the act of drinking to the concept of power through a single prehistoric syllable.
Definition
A liquid mixture intended to be drunk, especially one having medicinal, magical, or poisonous properties, from Latin pōtiō 'a drinking', ultimately from PIE *peh₃- 'to drink'.
The Full Story
Latinc. 1300 CE (Middle English borrowing)well-attested
The word 'potion' entered Middle English around 1300 CE from Old French 'pocion' (a drink, especially a medicinal or magical draught), which derived directly from Latin 'pōtiōnem' (accusative of 'pōtiō'), meaning 'a drinking, a drink, a draught.' TheLatinnoun was formed from the past participle stem 'pōt-' of the verb 'pōtāre,' meaning 'to drink,' with the abstract noun suffix '-iō.' In classical Latin, 'pōtiō' was a neutral term referring to any beverage or draught, frequently used in medical contexts by writers
brews — a shift reinforced by the parallel evolution of the doublet 'poison,' which shares the same Latin root but arrived via a different Old French pathway ('poison' from 'potiōnem' via Vulgar Latin). The
: it gives Greek 'πίνειν' (pínein, 'to drink'), 'πόσις' (pósis, 'drink'), and 'συμπόσιον' (sympósion, 'drinking party,' whence English 'symposium'); Sanskrit 'पिबति' (píbati, 'drinks') and 'पान' (pāna, 'drink'); Latin 'pōculum' ('cup, goblet'), 'pōtābilis' ('drinkable,' giving English 'potable'), and 'pōtor' ('drinker'); as well as Old Church Slavonic 'piti' ('to drink'). The semantic field of *peh₃- thus encompasses drinking, beverages, vessels, and social rituals of consumption across the entire Indo-European world. Key roots: *peh₃- (Proto-Indo-European: "to drink"), pōtāre (Latin: "to drink"), pōtiō (Latin: "a drinking, a draught").