impotence

impotence

English

Alternative forms

• impotency

Etymology

From Middle French impotence, from Latin impotentia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪmpətəns/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

Noun

impotence (usually uncountable, plural impotences)

1. Powerlessness; incapacity.
   • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398, line 52, page 12:

     O impotence of mind, in body ſtrong!

2. Inability to copulate or beget children; sterility, erectile dysfunction, etc.

Related terms

• impotent

Translations

powerlessness

Bulgarian: безсилие (bg) n (bezsilie) Catalan: impotència f Finnish: voimattomuus (fi) French: impuissance (fr) f German: Machtlosigkeit (de) f Hindi: नपुंसकता (hi) f (napunsaktā), नामर्दी (hi) f (nāmardī) Polish: impotencja (pl) f Portuguese: impotência (pt) f Romanian: impotență (ro), lipsă de putere Russian: бесси́лие (ru) n (bessílije) Spanish: impotencia f

erectile dysfunction

Arabic: عَنَانَة‎ f (ʕanāna), عُنَّة‎ f (ʕunna) Armenian: իմպոտենցիա (hy) (impotencʿia) Belarusian: імпатэ́нцыя f (impaténcyja) Bulgarian: импотентност f (impotentnost) Burmese: ပန်းသေရောဂါ (my) (pan:serau:ga) Catalan: impotència f Czech: impotence f Finnish: impotenssi (fi) French: impuissance (fr) f German: Impotenz (de) f, Zeugungsunfähigkeit f Hindi: नपुंसकता (hi) f (napunsaktā), नामर्दी (hi) f (nāmardī) Hungarian: impotencia (hu) Indonesian: impotensi (id) Norwegian: Bokmål: impotens m Nynorsk: impotens m Polish: impotencja (pl) f, niemoc płciowa f Romanian: impotență (ro) Russian: импоте́нция (ru) f (impoténcija), полово́е бесси́лие n (polovóje bessílije), маломо́чие n (malomóčije) (rare) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: импотѐнција, спо̑лна не̏мо̄ћ f, по̑лна не̏мо̄ћ f Latin: impotèncija (sh), spȏlna (sh) nȅmōć f, pȏlna (sh) nȅmōć f Spanish: impotencia f Swedish: impotens (sv) c Telugu: నపుంసకత్వము (te) (napuṁsakatvamu) Turkish: (please verify) iktidarsızlık (tr) Ukrainian: імпоте́нція f (impoténcija)

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Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin impotentia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɪmpotɛnt͡sɛ]
• Rhymes: -ɛntsɛ

Noun

impotence f

1. impotence (inability to copulate or beget children)

Declension

Declension of impotence

	singular	plural
nominative	impotence	impotence
genitive	impotence	impotencí
dative	impotenci	impotencím
accusative	impotenci	impotence
vocative	impotence	impotence
locative	impotenci	impotencích
instrumental	impotencí	impotencemi

Related terms

• See potence

Further reading

• impotence in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• impotence in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

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French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

impotence f (plural impotences)

1. powerlessness

Further reading

• “impotence”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.