Impotence \Im"po*tence\, Impotency \Im"po*ten*cy\, n. [L.
impotenia inability, poverty, lack of moderation. See
Impotent.]
1. The quality or condition of being impotent; lack of
strength or power, animal, intellectual, or moral;
weakness; feebleness; inability; imbecility.
[1913 Webster]
Some were poor by impotency of nature; as young
fatherless children, old decrepit persons, idiots,
and cripples. --Hayward.
[1913 Webster]
O, impotence of mind in body strong! --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
2. Lack of self-restraint or self-control. [R.]
--Milton.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Law & Med.) Lack of procreative power; inability to
copulate, or beget children; also, sometimes, sterility;
barrenness; specifically, in males: the inability to
achieve or sustain a penile erection; erectile
dysfunction.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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