impotence

impotence
/im"peuh teuhns/, n.
1. the condition or quality of being impotent; weakness.
2. chronic inability to attain or sustain an erection for the performance of a sexual act.
3. sterility, esp. in the male.
4. Obs. lack of self-restraint.
Also, impotency, impotentness.
[1375-1425; late ME, var. (see -ENCE) of impotencie < L impotentia want of self-control, weakness. See IM-2, POTENCY]

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Inability to achieve or maintain erection of the penis; hence, inability to participate fully in sexual intercourse.

Erectile impotence (failure to achieve erection) may have either physical causes (e.g., alcoholism, endocrine disease) or psychological ones (e.g., anxiety, hostility toward the partner). Ejaculatory impotence (inability to reach orgasm, sometimes with an erection maintained for a long time) nearly always has an emotional cause. See also Viagra.

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also called  erectile dysfunction 

      in general, the inability of a man to achieve or maintain penile erection and hence the inability to participate fully in sexual intercourse (sexual dysfunction). In its broadest sense the term impotence refers to the inability to become sexually aroused; in this sense it can apply to women as well as to men. In common practice, however, the term has traditionally been used to describe only male sexual dysfunctions. Professional sex therapists, while they identify two distinct dysfunctions as forms of impotence, prefer not to use the term impotence per se. Thus, because of its pejorative connotation in lay usage and because of confusion about its definition, the word impotence has been eliminated from the technical vocabulary in favour of the term “erectile dysfunction.”

      Traditionally, erectile impotence (the classical definition of impotence) is the failure to achieve penile erection during intercourse. It may have either physical or psychological causes. alcoholism, endocrine disease, and neurological disorders (nervous system disease) are typical physical causes. Psychological causes include anxiety over performance, hostility or other negative feelings toward the sexual partner, and stress, anxiety, depression, or other emotional conflicts outside of the relationship. Erectile impotence occasionally occurs with age and, although attributed by the individual to the aging process itself, it is usually secondary to disorders of aging, such as faulty blood circulation or prostate disease. In cases of impotence caused by blood vessel dysfunction, an insufficient supply of blood flows into the penis, or the blood diffuses out into adjacent tissues.

      In ejaculatory impotence, the male achieves an erection but cannot reach orgasm in the partner's vagina. The erection may be maintained for long periods, even long after the female partner has achieved orgasm. This form of impotence nearly always has an emotional rather than physical cause.

      Psychotherapy, marital counseling, or sex therapy may be helpful in treating cases of impotence that have psychological or emotional causes. A range of other treatments exists for cases of impotence that arise from purely physiological causes. These treatments include vacuum devices, penile injections, and penile implants. These mechanical or physically invasive approaches have largely been superseded, however, by the drug sildenafil citrate (trade name Viagra), which is taken in pill form. This drug works by enhancing the effects of nitric oxide, a chemical that, upon sexual stimulation, is normally released to widen the blood vessels supplying the penis. The increased flow of blood through those vessels into certain tissues in the penis causes an erection. See also sexual dysfunction.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • impotence — [ ɛ̃pɔtɑ̃s ] n. f. • v. 1265; lat. impotentia ♦ État d une personne impotente. ● impotence nom féminin (latin impotentia) État d un individu impotent. ● impotence (expressions) nom féminin (latin impotentia) Impotence fonction …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • impotence — I noun debilitation, debility, defenselessness, failure, feebleness, forcelessness, helplessness, imbecillitas, impotency, impuissance, inability, inadequacy, incapability, incapacitation, incapacity, incompetence, incompetency, ineffectiveness,… …   Law dictionary

  • Impotence — Im po*tence, Impotency Im po*ten*cy, n. [L. impotenia inability, poverty, lack of moderation. See {Impotent}.] 1. The quality or condition of being impotent; lack of strength or power, animal, intellectual, or moral; weakness; feebleness;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • impotence — (n.) early 15c., physical weakness, also poverty, from M.Fr. impotence weakness, from L. impotentia lack of control or power, from impotentem (nom. impotens); see IMPOTENT (Cf. impotent). In reference to a want of (male) sexual potency, from… …   Etymology dictionary

  • impotence — n. pl. impotencies [im′pə təns] n. [OFr < L impotentia] the quality or condition of being impotent: also impotency n. impotencies …   English World dictionary

  • Impotence — Le terme impotence (du latin impotentia, « impuissance, faiblesse ») désigne : L état d une personne impotente, c’est à dire se déplaçant avec grande difficulté, voire grabataire. Une impotence fonctionnelle : inaptitude à se… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • impotence — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ relative (esp. BrE) ▪ the relative impotence of individual governments in the face of global forces ▪ male ▪ political, sexual VERB + IMPOTENCE …   Collocations dictionary

  • Impotence — (Roget s Thesaurus) < N PARAG:Impotence >N GRP: N 1 Sgm: N 1 impotence impotence Sgm: N 1 inability inability disability Sgm: N 1 disablement disablement impuissance imbecility Sgm: N 1 incapacity incapacity incapability …   English dictionary for students

  • impotence — (in po tan s ) s. f. Terme de médecine. État de celui qui est impotent. HISTORIQUE    XIIIe s. •   Après s en va sans escuier ; Mès por ses membres apuier Ot ausinc cum par impotence De traïson une potence, la Rose, 12295.    XIVe s.… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • impotence — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) Lack of strength Nouns 1. impotence, inability, disability; disablement, impuissance, incapacity, incapability; inaptness, ineptitude, inefficiency, incompetence; disqualification. See weakness,… …   English dictionary for students

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