potency

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin potentia. Doublet of Potenza.

noun

  1. Power, authority.
    I would to heauen I had your potencie, And you were Isabell: should it then be thus? No: I would tell what 'twere to be a Iudge, and what a prisoner. c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 67, column 2
  2. The ability or capacity to perform something
    1. (usually of men) Sexual virility: the ability to become erect or achieve orgasm.
  3. (of alcoholic drinks, of drugs) Concentration; strength
  4. Potentiality, ability, capacity.
  5. (mathematics, dated) Cardinality.

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