The ability of cells such as an embryonic stem cell to differentiate into any type of body cell. Plant cells are also totipotent, which helps to explain why a graft of a plant can generate a whole new individual out of just a small branch cutting.
totipotency to·tip·o·ten·cy (tō-tĭp'ə-tən-sē, tō'tĭ-pōt'n-sē) or to·tip·o·tence (tō-tĭp'ə-təns, tō'tĭ-pōt'ns)
n.
The ability of a cell, such as an egg, to give rise to unlike cells and to develop into or generate a new organism or part.