adj.
having the capacity to develop into something in the future.
n.
- latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness.
-
(often potential for/to do something)
the possibility of something happening or of someone doing something in the future.
- Physics the quantity determining the energy of mass in a gravitational field or of charge in an electric field.
Derivative
- potentiality n.
- potentialize
or potentialise v. - potentially adv.
Etymology
ME: from late L. potentialis, from potentia ‘power’.
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