Macht mächt-ig macht-los

Power power-ful power-less

Pouvoir puiss-ant im-puiss-ant

Looking at those three languages translating the state of having power and not having power is quite intersting. in german ‘mächtig’ means being in power and ‘machtlos’ is lacking power. in english ‘powerful’ means literally ful of power, so there is a sense of container filling it. in french ‘puissant’ is more a being and not being since im of ‘impuissant’ stand for a negation of something. is it a BEING or a CONTAINER to be filled, do we LACK of it or are we just NOT it?