impotence
NounUS[im-puh-tuhns]/ˈɪmpətəns/3 syllables
Open English WordNet
Noun (2)
- the quality of lacking strength or power; being weak and feebleSynonyms: powerlessnessimpotencyType of qualityKinds helplessness, paper tiger, uninterestingness, unpersuasiveness, voicelessness, ineffectiveness
- an inability (usually of the male animal) to copulateSynonyms: impotencyOpposite potencyType of sterility, infertilityKinds erectile dysfunction, ED
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inexorableadjective
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Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Im′po·tence, Im′po·ten·cy noun
Origin: L. impotenia inability, poverty, lack of moderation. See Impotent.
1. The quality or condition of being impotent; lack of strength or power, animal, intellectual, or moral; weakness; feebleness; inability; imbecility.
Some were poor by impotency of nature; as young fatherless children, old decrepit persons, idiots, and cripples.— Sir John Hayward
O, impotence of mind in body strong!— John Milton
2. Lack of self-restraint or self-control. rare John Milton
3. Law & Med. Lack of procreative power; inability to copulate, or beget children; also, sometimes, sterility; barrenness; specifically, in males: the inability to achieve or sustain a penile erection; erectile dysfunction.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54 · with additions: +PJC