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The Meaning of potential
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(a.) Being potent; endowed with energy adequate to a result; efficacious; influential.
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(a.) Existing in possibility, not in actuality.
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(n.) Anything that may be possible; a possibility; potentially.
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(n.) In the theory of gravitation, or of other forces acting in space, a function of the rectangular coordinates which determine the position of a point, such that its differential coefficients with respect to the coordinates are equal to the components of the force at the point considered; -- also called potential function, or force function. It is called also Newtonian potential when the force is directed to a fixed center and is inversely as the square of the distance from the center.
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(n.) The energy of an electrical charge measured by its power to do work; hence, the degree of electrification as referred to some standard, as that of the earth; electro-motive force.
Synonyms
potence
,
potency
,
potentiality
,
voltage
,
authorization
,
strength
,
effectiveness
,
potential difference
,
capableness
,
potential drop
,
say-so
,
capability
,
dominance
,
authority
,
authorisation
,
electric potential
,
electromotive force
,
emf
,
possible
,
likely
,
probable
,
latent
Antonyms
actual
,
effective
,
retrospective
,
existent
Rhymes
confidential
,
consequential
,
credential
,
deferential
,
differential
,
essential
,
existential
,
experiential
,
exponential
,
henschel
,
hentschel
,
inconsequential
,
inferential
,
influential
,
jurisprudential
,
nonessential
,
nonresidential
,
preferential
,
presidential
,
providential
,
prudential
,
quintessential
,
residential
,
reverential
,
sequential
,
tangential
,
torrential
,
vice-presidential