impotency

Definition

Or: impotence , the inability to achieve or maintain enough stiffness in the penis to penetrate the vagina and have intercourse resulting in ejaculation. Impotence affects approximately 30 million American men.
The medical profession once made the following distinction:
-- impotentia coeundi = the inability to perform sexual intercourse;
-- impotentia erigendi = the inability to have and sustain as erection;
-- impotentia generandi = the inability to procreate; sterility.
Synonym: invirility. Health professionals today prefer the following synonyms: erectile difficulty; erectile disorder; erectile dysfunction; erectile inhibition.