potential

/pə-ˈten(t)-shəl/

Middle English potencial, from Late Latin potentialis, from potentia potentiality, from Latin, power, from potent-, potens

adjective

  1. existing in possibility : capable of development into actuality

  2. expressing possibility; specifically : of, relating to, or constituting a verb phrase expressing possibility, liberty, or power by the use of an auxiliary with the infinitive of the verb (as in "it may rain")

potential benefits

latent dormant quiescent potential mean not now showing signs of activity or existence. latent applies to a power or quality that has not yet come forth but may emerge and develop. dormant suggests the inactivity of something (such as a feeling or power) as though sleeping.

noun

  1. something that can develop or become actual

  2. promise

  3. any of various functions from which the intensity or the velocity at any point in a field may be readily calculated

a potential for violence

noun

  1. the difference in potential between two points that represents the work involved or the energy released in the transfer of a unit quantity of electricity from one point to the other