Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Impotence"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Impotence \Im"po*tence\, Impotency \Im"po*ten*cy\, n. [L.
impotenia inability, poverty, want of moderation. See
{Impotent}.]
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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
impotence
n 1: the quality of lacking strength or power; being weak and
feeble [syn: {powerlessness}, {impotency}] [ant: {power}]
2: an inability (usually of a male) to copulate [syn: {impotency}]
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