impotence Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the quality of lacking strength or power; being weak and feeble
    powerlessness; impotency.
  2. noun an inability (usually of the male animal) to copulate
    impotency.

WordNet

Im"po*tence, Im"po*ten*cy noun (Also<
  • Impotence
  • Impotency
)
Etymology
L. impotenia inability, poverty, want of moderation. See Impotent.
Definitions
  1. The quality or condition of being impotent; want 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. Hayward.
    O, impotence of mind in body strong! Milton.
  2. Want of self-restraint or self-control. R. Milton.
  3. (Law & Med.) Want of procreative power; inability to copulate, or beget children; also, sometimes, sterility; barrenness.

Webster 1913