im·po·tent

[im-puh-tuhnt]
adjective
1.
not potent; lacking power or ability.
2.
utterly unable (to do something).
3.
without force or effectiveness.
4.
lacking bodily strength or physically helpless.
5.
(of a male) unable to attain or sustain a penile erection.
6.
(especially of a male) sterile.
7.
Obsolete. without restraint.
noun
8.
an impotent person: therapy for sexual impotents.
00:10
Impotent is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin impotent- (stem of impotēns) without power over oneself or others. See im-2, potent1

im·po·tent·ly, adverb


1, 2. powerless, helpless. 3. ineffectual, ineffective, feeble, weak.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary
impotent (ˈɪmpətənt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
1.  (when postpositive, often takes an infinitive) lacking sufficient strength; powerless
2.  See erectile impotence (esp of males) unable to perform sexual intercourse
3.  obsolete lacking self-control; unrestrained
 
'impotence
 
n
 
'impotency
 
n
 
'impotentness
 
n
 
'impotently
 
adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

impotent
late 14c., "physically weak," from O.Fr. impotent "powerless," from L. imponentem (nom. impotens) "lacking control, powerless," from in- "not" + ponentem (nom. potens) "potent." Meaning "having no power to accomplish anything" is from mid-15c.; that of "completely lacking in sexual power" is from 1590s
(implied in impotency).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

impotent im·po·tent (ĭm'pə-tənt)
adj.

  1. Incapable of sexual intercourse, often because of an inability to achieve or sustain an erection.

  2. Sterile. Used of males.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Example sentences
Judging by your impotent remark on my pen name, it's you who went down by the
  path of meaningless insults.
They would find ways around the pay system, rendering it impotent.
Foreign opinion will be outraged by the farcical legal case, but impotent.
Short term stop-gaps designed to make those currently in charge feel less
  impotent wont work.
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