Dictionary entry

Impotent

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Im″po‐tent (?), a. [F. impotent, L. impotens, -entis; pref. im- not + potens potent, powerful. See Potent.] 1. Not potent; wanting power, strength. or vigor. whether physical, intellectual, or moral; deficient in capacity; destitute of force; weak; feeble; infirm.

There sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent inhis feet. Acts xiv. 8.

O most lame and impotent conclusion! Shak.

Not slow to hear,

Nor impotent to save. Addison.

2. Wanting the power of self-restraint; incontrolled; ungovernable; violent.

Impotent of tongue, her silence broke. Dryden.

3. (Med.) Wanting the power of procreation; unable to copulate; also, sometimes, sterile; barren.