impotence

[im-puh-tuh ns] /ˈɪm pə təns/
noun
1.
the condition or quality of being impotent; weakness.
2.
chronic inability to attain or sustain an erection for the performance of a sexual act.
3.
sterility, especially in the male.
4.
Obsolete. lack of self-restraint.
Also, impotency, impotentness.
Origin
1375-1425; late Middle English, variant (see -ence) of impotencie < Latin impotentia want of self-control, weakness. See im-2, potency
Can be confused
impetus, impotence, sterility.
importance, impotence (see synonym study at importance)
impotence, sterility, sterilized.
Word Origin and History for impotence
n.

early 15c., "physical weakness," also "poverty," from Middle French impotence "weakness," from Latin impotentia "lack of control or power," from impotentem (nominative impotens); see impotent. In reference to a want of (male) sexual potency, from c.1500. The figurative senses of the word in Latin were "violence, fury, unbridled passion." Related: Impotency.

impotence in Medicine

impotence im·po·tence (ĭm'pə-təns) or im·po·ten·cy (-tən-sē)
n.
The quality or condition of being impotent.