potius

Meaning

1. not comparablerather, preferably
   […]; sed tibi si viginti minae argenti proferentur, quo nos vocabis nomine? — Libertos. — Non patronos? — Id potius.c. 209 BCE, Plautus, Asinaria 3.3.61–63
   Lepida es. Sed scin quid volŏ potius sodes facias?165 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Hecyra 753
2. not comparablerather than
   In hac habitasse platea dictumst Chrysidem, quae sese inhoneste optavit parere hic ditias166 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Andria 796–798
   Tantum prōfēcī tum, cum tē ā cōnsulātū reppulī: ut exsul potius temptāre quam cōnsul vexāre rem pūblicam possēs, atque ut id, quod esset ā tē scelerātē susceptum, latrōcinium potius quam bellum nōminārētur.I accomplished this much, then, when I blocked you from the consulship: that you should attempt your harm as an exile rather than inflict it on the republic as consul, and that what you wickedly undertook should be called banditry rather than war.63 BCE, Cicero, In Catilinam orationes 1.27
3. not comparableinstead
   Quīn potius pācem aeternam pactōsque hymenaeōs / exercēmus?[Juno says to Venus:] “Instead, why don’t we pursue an enduring peace, and arrange marriage [for Dido and Aeneas]?”29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.99-100
4. not comparableor rather, or I may better say
   […]; efficiet enim ratio ut, quaecumque vera sit earum sententiarum quas eui, mors aut malum non sit aut sit bonum potius.c. 45 BCE, Cicero, Tusculanae disputationes 1.11.23
   Quam fuit imbecillus P. Africani filius, is qui te adoptavit, quam tenui aut nulla potius valetudine!44 BCE, Cicero, Cato maior de senectute 35

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

nihil antiquius or prius habeo quam ut (nihil mihi antiquius or potius est, quam ut)

there is nothing I am more interested in than...

Origins

Originally, comparative adverb to pote.