phrasepatria potestāsPATRIA POTESTASpatria potestāsClassical[ˈpa.tri.a pɔˈtɛs.taːs]Ecclesiastical[ˈpaː.tri.a poˈtɛs.tas]☆ KeepMeaninghistoricalThe legal power and rights of a Roman father over his children and descendants by virtue of his paternity.In the Academy Smith's classical dictionariesAntiquitiesPatria potestasPatria potestas Potestas in its original meaning signified mastery, dominion (Curtius, Gr. Etym. 3.265), and hence it came to mean a legal power or au…