impotence

C2+ Topic:Law & Government

US /ˈɪmpətəns/ UK /ˈɪmpətəns/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
the state of being powerless or lacking effective strength

He raged in impotence as the decision was taken out of his hands.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the state of being... powerlessness helplessness weakness feeblenessineffectivenessincapacity frailty

Opposites

potency power strength virility

Word family

Related forms impotent potent potency potential

Etymology

From Latin impotentia ('want of power, weakness'), from impotens ('powerless'), from in- ('not') + potens ('able, powerful'), present participle of posse ('to be able').

impotentia Latin potens Latin posse Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Law & Government Word Formation & Derivatives

# impotence

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈɪmpətəns
**IPA (UK):** ˈɪmpətəns

## Meanings
1. the state of being powerless or lacking effective strength

## Examples
- He raged in impotence as the decision was taken out of his hands.

## Synonyms
- powerlessness
- helplessness
- weakness
- feebleness
- ineffectiveness
- incapacity
- frailty

## Antonyms
- potency
- power
- strength
- virility

## Related Forms
- impotent
- potent
- potency
- potential

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: impotentia
- Root: potens
- Root: posse

## Etymology
From Latin impotentia ('want of power, weakness'), from impotens ('powerless'), from in- ('not') + potens ('able, powerful'), present participle of posse ('to be able').

## AI Etymology
impotence comes from Latin impotentia ('want of power, weakness'), from impotens ('powerless'), from in- ('not') + potens ('able, powerful'), present participle of posse ('to be able'). Morphologically, the prefixed shape matters: the initial element belongs to the recorded formation and helps explain the modern form's surface analysis. In present English, the noun sense is "the state of being powerless or lacking effective strength", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as impotent, potent, potency, and potential. Its semantic neighborhood includes powerlessness, helplessness, weakness, and feebleness, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin impotentia, Latin potens, and Latin posse.

## Topics
- Law & Government
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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