Impotence \Im"po*tence\, Impotency \Im"po*ten*cy\, n. [L. impotenia inability, poverty, want of moderation. See Impotent.]

1. The quality or condition of being impotent; want of strength or power, animal, intellectual, or moral; weakness; feebleness; inability; imbecility.

Some were poor by impotency of nature; as young fatherless children, old decrepit persons, idiots, and cripples. --Hayward.

O, impotence of mind in body strong! --Milton.

2. Want of self-restraint or self-control. [R.]

--Milton.

3. (Law & Med.) Want of procreative power; inability to copulate, or beget children; also, sometimes, sterility; barrenness.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)