In origin the word is one of the possible present participle forms of poer1, which became lexicalized as an adjective and noun in its own right (cf. pussant). It is attested mainly in twelfth- and early thirteenth-century texts, after which it seems to disappear, possibly in favour of the synonymous pussant. The deviant spelling used in Ancren¹ dates from the end of the thirteenth century, which is considerably later than all other attestations.