Kilo Lingo

Line drawing of ĉiopova
Coloured illustration of ĉiopova
#2747 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

almighty, omnipotent

Word origin

An Esperanto build, not a borrowing: ĉio ('everything') plus the root of povi ('to be able') plus the adjective ending. English almighty is the same idea assembled the same way, from all and mighty, which is why the word feels familiar the moment you decode it.

Origin
Esperanto compound
Root
ĉio + pov- + -a

Examples

.

They believe in an almighty God.

.

No human being is all-powerful.

, .

The people thought the king was almost omnipotent.

Decode it and the theology falls out. Ĉio is everything, pov- is the root of povi, to be able, and -a makes an adjective. : able to do everything. English does the same trick with almighty, which is all plus mighty and nothing more, and Latin does it with omnipotens. Three languages, one compound, and only the Esperanto one is transparent to somebody who has been learning for a fortnight.

The - prefix is productive, so mind the family. is all-powerful, ĉioscia is all-knowing (omniscient), ĉiovidanta is all-seeing. Do not confuse the first element with , which is every one of a countable set: ĉiupova is not the word, because the claim is not about each thing separately but about everything at once. o is the noun, omnipotence.

Register. This is a word of religion and of rhetoric. It belongs in prayer, in scripture, in political sarcasm about a , and almost nowhere else. In the ordinary sense of very strong, reach for forta or potenca. The wider vocabulary of belief in Esperanto, and the movement's own complicated relationship with it, is in Esperanto and religion.

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Esperanto · Free printables

ĉiopova: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Esperanto word "ĉiopova" (almighty, omnipotent): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 55.