A word can be potentially present in a language when a derivative is present, but the word itself is not. English proximity, for example, gives support to Interlingua , meaning 'near, close'. This counts as long as one or more control languages actually have this basic root word, which the Romance languages all do. Potentiality also occurs when a concept is represented as a compound or derivative in a control language, the morphemes that make it up are themselves international, and the combination adequately conveys the meaning of the larger word. An example is Italian (lit. 'flamebearer'), meaning 'match, lucifer', which leads to Interlingua , or 'match'. This word is thus said to be potentially present in the other languages although they may represent the meaning with a single morpheme.
