Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Lacking physical strength or vigor; weak.
  • adjective Lacking in power, as to act effectively; helpless.
  • adjective Incapable of sexual intercourse because of an inability to achieve or sustain an erection.
  • adjective Obsolete Lacking self-restraint.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not potent; lacking power, strength, or vigor, physical, intellectual, or moral; powerless; weak; feeble.
  • Wholly lacking in sexual power: said of the male, and rarely of the female.
  • Lacking the power of self-restraint; destitute of self-command; ungovernable.
  • noun One who is feeble, infirm, or languishing under disease.
  • noun A male without sexual power.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun rare One who is impotent.
  • adjective Not potent; wanting power, strength. or vigor. whether physical, intellectual, or moral; deficient in capacity; destitute of force; weak; feeble; infirm.
  • adjective Wanting the power of self-restraint; incontrolled; ungovernable; violent.
  • adjective (Med.) Wanting the power of procreation; unable to copulate; also, sometimes, sterile; barren

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Lacking physical strength or vigor; weak.
  • adjective Lacking in power, as to act effectively; helpless
  • adjective Incapable of sexual intercourse, often because of an inability to achieve or sustain an erection.
  • adjective of a male Sterile.
  • adjective obsolete Lacking self-restraint.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective (of a male) unable to copulate
  • adjective lacking power or ability

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin impotēns, impotent- : in-, not; see in– + potēns, potent; see potent.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin impotēns, from in- (expresses negation) + potēns ("powerful").

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