What does 持てる mean in this sentence?

Question

「持てる力をふりしぼる。」

Does it mean "to be possesed" (just from 持てる) or "to can have" (potential, from 持つ)? The context doesn't help, they're both fine to me.

Answer 1

This 持てる is a set phrase from classical Japanese which corresponds to 持っている in modern Japanese ("perfective form" of 持つ, used attributively, i.e., "which one has gained" or "who has gained [things]"). There is no potential sense.

持てる力をふりしぼる
= 持っている力をふりしぼる

to use up all one's strength

Grammatically, it's the realis form (已然形) of 持つ followed by the attributive form (連体形) of り, an auxiliary in classical Japanese.

Practically speaking, you can forget the classical grammar and just remember this as a fixed (or "fossil") rentaishi that appears almost exclusively in the following patterns:

• 持てる力, 持てる知識, 持てる能力, 持てる財産, ...
  (all) one's ～; all ～ one has
• 持てる者, 持てる人, 持てる貴族, ...
  haves (as in "haves and have-nots"); wealthy/gifted ～

These correspond to the fourth and fifth definitions here.

See also: The meaning of モテる