impotente

Forms

impotente m or f (plural impotentes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin impotēns (“powerless, weak”), first recorded in 1563.^[2][3][1] Nascentes calls it a learned word.^[4]

The Latin adjective is formed from in- (“not”) and potēns (“strong, powerful”).^[1][5] The second part served as the present participle of possum (“to be able”), and the Vulgar Latin verb that replaced it, *poteō, is the source of poder.^[6] De Vaan traces this family to potis (“able, having the power”), from Proto-Indo-European *pótis, the word for “master” that also gave पति (páti, “lord, master”).^[7]

The same Latin word was borrowed as Spanish impotente, Catalan impotent, French impotent (in 1319) and Italian impotente.^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record, of 1563, is in the general sense of lacking the power, strength or means to do something.^[2] In Latin the word already meant “powerless”, and also “lacking control over oneself, unrestrained”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau's dictionary (1712–1728) gives only the sexual sense, “incapable of begetting”, and remarks that the Latin authors used impotens for something else.^[8] Morais in 1789 also defines it as unable to beget through a physical defect, and in 1813 adds figurative uses, desejos impotentes and ódio impotente, the hatred of someone who cannot take revenge or do harm.^[9][10] Vieira records the sense “deprived of the use of a limb”, as in impotente do braço direito, and the noun um impotente.^[11] The modern dictionaries keep the general sense, the medical sense of a man unable to have intercourse, and the noun for an impotent person.^[2][12][13]

Timeline

• 1563 – first record, in a text Houaiss cites as Garcia de Orta's.^[2]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines it only as “incapable of begetting”.^[8]
• 1755 – Folqman glosses it with the Latin impotens.^[14]
• 1789 – Morais gives the sense “unable to beget through a physical defect”.^[9]
• 1813 – Morais adds the figurative ódio impotente.^[10]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira records the sense “deprived of the use of a limb”.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Lacking the power, strength or means to do or achieve something; weak, ineffective, powerless.^[2][12][1]
2. Unable to act or to change the course of events.^[15][13]
3. (medicine) Unable to have sexual intercourse, especially of a man unable to achieve an erection; impotent.^[2][12][1]

Noun

1. A person who lacks strength or power.^[13]
2. A man who suffers from impotência.^[2][16][17]

Related words

• impotência
• potente
• poder
• Latin impotēns
• Spanish impotente

Usage notes

Vieira warns against using impotente for “unruly, unrestrained”, which he calls a Gallicism or rather an Anglicism, out of keeping with the first meaning of the word.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. impotente
3. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. poder
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. impotente
5. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. impotens
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. impotent
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. potis
8. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. impotente
9. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 700
10. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 138
11. ^ a b c Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 3, 1050
12. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. impotente
13. ^ a b c Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. impotente
14. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. impotente
15. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5126
16. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. impotente
17. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. impotente