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.

 

© Webster 1913.


Im"po*tent, n.

One who is imoitent.

[R.]

Shak.

 

© Webster 1913.

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