potential Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the inherent capacity for coming into being
    potentiality; potency.
  2. noun the difference in electrical charge between two points in a circuit expressed in volts
    electric potential; potential difference; voltage; potential drop.
  3. adjective existing in possibility
    possible.
    • a potential problem
    • possible uses of nuclear power
  4. adjective satellite expected to become or be; in prospect
    likely.
    • potential clients

WordNet

Po*ten"tial adjective
Etymology
Cf. F. potentiel. See Potency.
Definitions
  1. Being potent; endowed with energy adequate to a result; efficacious; influential. Obs. "And hath in his effect a voice potential." Shak.
  2. Existing in possibility, not in actuality. "A potential hero." Carlyle.
    Potential existence means merely that the thing may be at ome time; actual existence, that it now is. Sir W. Hamilton.
Po*ten"tial noun
Definitions
  1. Anything that may be possible; a possibility; potentially. Bacon.
  2. (Math.) In the theory of gravitation, or of other forces acting in space, a function of the rectangular coordinates which determine the position of a point, such that its differential coefficients with respect to the coördinates are equal to the components of the force at the point considered; -- also called potential function, or force function. It is called also Newtonian potential when the force is directed to a fixed center and is inversely as the square of the distance from the center.
  3. (Elec.) The energy of an electrical charge measured by its power to do work; hence, the degree of electrification as referred to some standard, as that of the earth; electro-motive force.

Webster 1913