potency
Americannoun
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the state or quality of being potent.
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the potency of God's word.
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capacity to be, become, or develop; potentiality.
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a person or thing exerting power or influence.
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Mathematics. cardinal number.
noun
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the state or quality of being potent
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latent or inherent capacity for growth or development
Usage
What does potency mean? Potency means strength and effectiveness. It is most commonly used in the context of medications and drugs in reference to how strong or effective they are or are capable of being. It can also be used in a more general way to refer to the power or effectiveness of someone or something, such as a leader or a statement. Potency is the noun form of the adjective potent, which generally means powerful but is commonly applied to things that produce a powerful physical or chemical effect. Example: The medication will lose its potency if kept in the sunlight.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of potency
From the Latin word potentia, dating back to 1530–40. See potent 1, -ency
Explanation
Use the noun potency when you're talking about the strength of something. You could refer to the potency of a drug or the potency of a political leader. Potency is an official measurement in pharmacology, or the science of prescribing drugs. It's also useful for describing a person's power or authority over others. The Latin root word is potentia, or "power," and its origin goes all the way back to the Sanskrit word for "master or husband," patih. The word potency has historically been associated with men, but it's fine to use it to describe a woman's power too.
Vocabulary lists containing potency
The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor
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Novel Study: The Scarlet Letter, Chapters 9–15
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"Simon's Saga," Vocabulary from Episode 17
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
What do you think gives it the emotional potency that goes beyond “These were the people in power who wrote down their version of what happened”?
From Slate ● Jul. 3, 2026
This allows for dose customization but isn’t subject to the same reviews for safety, efficacy or consistency, and may carry added risks related to quality control, potency variation or contamination.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
If we choose to collapse into a monolithic, uncritical chorus whenever a wronged woman writes a memoir, we are trading our real potency for the cheap satisfaction of rah-rah-go-us groupthink.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
"Switching off NFIL3 could be a decisive step toward significantly improving the long-term potency of CAR T cells," explains Prof. Feucht.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 2, 2026
Hence a “dead” image lost its potency after the killing ritual had been performed and could be disregarded when the spell had to be renewed.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
Similarly, the sense of the numinous, of potencies beyond human understanding, is made explicit and manifest, particularly in an early conversation about dark energy.
From New York Times ● Nov. 16, 2022
He'll say things like, "Is this your first foray?" and "There are different potencies of aroma."
From BusinessWeek ● Jun. 16, 2011
As digital video media become all the more universally ubiquitous, so it seems artists throughout the world are increasingly re-embracing the primal potencies of drawing with an almost perverse timeliness.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 22, 2011
Instead, we can remind ourselves of what it's for: enriching and amplifying our potencies.
From BBC ● May 7, 2010
But other potencies there are in Middle-earth, powers of night, and they are old and strong.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
