puisne (; from old french "puisné", modern "puîné", "later born, younger" (and thence, "inferior") from late latin "post-", "after", and "natus", "born") is a legal term of art obsolete in many jurisdictions and, when current, used mainly in british english meaning "inferior in rank". the word became in the 18th and 19th century legal world was more often pronounced to distance it from its anglicized form "puny", an adjective meaning "weak or undersized".