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.
实用例句
1. Impotence affects 10 million men in the US alone.
仅仅在美国，就有1,000万男子患有阳痿。
来自柯林斯例句
2. In the midst of his feelings of impotence, a comforting thought arrived.
正在他觉得很无奈的时候，一个令人欣慰的想法冒了出来。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Their discovery could herald a cure for some forms of impotence.