noun
Meaning 1
Powerlessness; incapacity.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
Examples
- Near-synonyms: weakness, helplessness
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: weakness, helplessness
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
impotence
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ˈɪmpətəns/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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CMU ARPABET: IH1 M P AH0 T AH0 N S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
Inability to copulate or beget children; sterility, erectile dysfunction, etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
the quality of lacking strength or power; being weak and feeble
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: powerlessness, impotency
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: quality
Narrower terms: helplessness, weakness, impuissance, unpersuasiveness, uninterestingness, voicelessness, paper tiger, ineffectiveness, ineffectualness, ineffectuality
noun
Meaning 4
an inability (usually of the male animal) to copulate
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: impotency
Antonyms: potence
Broader terms: sterility, infertility
Narrower terms: erectile dysfunction, male erecticle dysfunction, ED
History
Etymology
From Middle French impotence, from Latin impotentia.
Across languages
Translations
57 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Belarusian: бяссі́лле (bjassíllje) — powerlessness
- Bulgarian: безсилие (bezsilie) — powerlessness
- Catalan: impotència — powerlessness
- Finnish: voimattomuus — powerlessness
- French: impuissance — powerlessness
- German: Machtlosigkeit — powerlessness
- Hindi: नपुंसकता (napunsaktā) — powerlessness
- Hindi: नामर्दी (nāmardī) — powerlessness
- Macedonian: не́моќ (némoḱ) — powerlessness
- Macedonian: бе́ссилност (béssilnost) — powerlessness
- Macedonian: бесси́лие (bessílie) — powerlessness
- Polish: impotencja — powerlessness
- Polish: bezsilność — powerlessness
- Polish: bezsiła — powerlessness
- Portuguese: impotência — powerlessness
- Romanian: impotență — powerlessness
- Romanian: lipsă de putere — powerlessness
- Russian: бесси́лие (bessílije) — powerlessness
- Spanish: impotencia — powerlessness
- Ukrainian: безси́лля (bezsýllja) — powerlessness
- Arabic: عَنَانَة (ʕanāna) — erectile dysfunction
- Arabic: عُنَّة (ʕunna) — erectile dysfunction
- Armenian: իմպոտենցիա (impotencʻia) — erectile dysfunction
- Belarusian: імпатэ́нцыя (impaténcyja) — erectile dysfunction
- Bulgarian: импотентност (impotentnost) — erectile dysfunction
- Burmese: ပန်းသေရောဂါ (pan:serau:ga) — erectile dysfunction
- Catalan: impotència — erectile dysfunction
- Czech: impotence — erectile dysfunction
- Dutch: impotentie — erectile dysfunction
- Finnish: impotenssi — erectile dysfunction
- French: impuissance — erectile dysfunction
- German: Impotenz — erectile dysfunction
- German: Zeugungsunfähigkeit — erectile dysfunction
- Hindi: नपुंसकता (napunsaktā) — erectile dysfunction
- Hindi: नामर्दी (nāmardī) — erectile dysfunction
- Hungarian: impotencia — erectile dysfunction
- Indonesian: impotensi — erectile dysfunction
- Macedonian: импоте́нција (impoténcija) — erectile dysfunction
- Norwegian Bokmål: impotens — erectile dysfunction
- Norwegian Nynorsk: impotens — erectile dysfunction
- Polish: impotencja — erectile dysfunction
- Polish: niemoc płciowa — erectile dysfunction
- Romanian: impotență — erectile dysfunction
- Russian: импоте́нция (impoténcija) — erectile dysfunction
- Russian: полово́е бесси́лие (polovóje bessílije) — erectile dysfunction
- Russian: маломо́чие (malomóčije) — erectile dysfunction
- Serbo-Croatian: импотѐнција — erectile dysfunction
- Serbo-Croatian: спо̑лна не̏мо̄ћ — erectile dysfunction
- Serbo-Croatian: по̑лна не̏мо̄ћ — erectile dysfunction
- Serbo-Croatian: impotèncija — erectile dysfunction
- Serbo-Croatian: spȏlna nȅmōć — erectile dysfunction
- Serbo-Croatian: pȏlna nȅmōć — erectile dysfunction
- Spanish: impotencia — erectile dysfunction
- Swedish: impotens — erectile dysfunction
- Telugu: నపుంసకత్వము (napuṁsakatvamu) — erectile dysfunction
- Ukrainian: імпоте́нція (impoténcija) — erectile dysfunction
- Urdu: نامردی (nāmardī) — erectile dysfunction