Potential

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Potential \Po*ten"tial\, a. [Cf. F. potentiel. See {Potency}.]
     1. Being potent; endowed with energy adequate to a result;
        efficacious; influential. [Obs.] "And hath in his effect a
        voice potential." --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  


     2. Existing in possibility, not in actuality. "A potential
        hero." --Carlyle.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Potential existence means merely that the thing may
              be at ome time; actual existence, that it now is.
                                                    --Sir W.
                                                    Hamilton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Potential cautery}. See under {Cautery}.
  
     {Potential energy}. (Mech.) See the Note under {Energy}.
  
     {Potential mood}, or {Potential mode} (Gram.), that form of
        the verb which is used to express possibility, liberty,
        power, will, obligation, or necessity, by the use of may,
        can, must, might, could, would, or should; as, I may go;
        he can write.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Potential \Po*ten"tial\, n.
     1. Anything that may be possible; a possibility; potentially.
        --Bacon.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Math.) 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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Elec.) 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.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  potential
       adj 1: existing in possibility; "a potential problem"; "possible
              uses of nuclear power" [syn: {possible}] [ant: {actual}]
       2: expected to become or be; in prospect; "potential clients";
          "expected income" [syn: {expected}, {likely}]
       n 1: the inherent capacity for coming into being [syn: {potentiality},
             {potency}]
       2: the difference in electrical charge between two points in a
          circuit expressed in volts [syn: {electric potential}, {potential
          difference}, {potential drop}, {voltage}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  127 Moby Thesaurus words for "potential":
     EMF, ability, aptitude, bare possibility, between the lines,
     budding, bump, caliber, capability, capacity, chance, cogitable,
     concealed, conceivability, conceivable, conceivableness,
     conceivably possible, conditional, contingency, contingent, covert,
     cryptic, delitescent, developing, dormant, dower, dowry,
     electric potential, electromotive force, electromotivity,
     embryonic, endowment, equipment, esoteric, even chance,
     eventuality, faculty, flair, forte, future, genius, gift,
     good chance, good possibility, hibernating, hidden, hope,
     humanly possible, imaginable, imminent, imperative, implicit,
     implied, indicative, instinct, jussive, latent, likelihood, likely,
     long suit, lurking, makings, metier, mode, mood, muffled, mystic,
     natural endowment, natural gift, obfuscated, obligative, obscured,
     occult, off chance, optative, outside chance, outside hope, parts,
     passive, permissive, plausible, possibilities, possibility,
     possible, possibleness, potency, potential difference,
     potentiality, power, powers, probability, probable, prospect,
     qualification, quiescent, remote possibility, sleeping, small hope,
     speciality, strong flair, strong point, subjunctive, submerged,
     talent, talents, the attainable, the feasible, the goods,
     the possible, the stuff, thinkability, thinkable, thinkableness,
     under the surface, underlying, undeveloped, unmanifested,
     unrealized, veiled, virtual, virtuality, volt, voltage,
     what is possible, what it takes, what may be, what might be