Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Potent \Po"tent\, n.
   1. A prince; a potentate. [Obs.] --Shak.

   2. [See {Potence}.] A staff or crutch. [Obs.]

   3. (Her.) One of the furs; a surface composed of patches
      which are supposed to represent crutch heads; they are
      always alternately argent and azure, unless otherwise
      specially mentioned.

   {Counter potent} (Her.), a fur differing from potent in the
      arrangement of the patches.