po·ten·tial

(pə-tĕn′shəl)

adj.

1. Capable of being but not yet in existence; latent or undeveloped: a potential problem; a substance with many potential uses.

2. Grammar Of, relating to, or being a verbal construction with auxiliaries such as may or can; for example, it may snow.

1. The inherent ability or capacity for growth, development, or future success: an investment with a lot of potential; a singer who has the potential to become a major star.

2. The possibility that something might happen or result from given conditions: a tense situation with the potential to turn into a riot; farming practices that increase the potential for the erosion of topsoil.

3. Physics

a. See electric potential.

b. See gravitational potential.

c. See magnetic potential.

4. Grammar A potential verb form.

[Middle English potencial, from Old French potenciel, from Late Latin potentiālis, powerful, from Latin potentia, power, from potēns, potent-, present participle of posse, to be able; see potent.]

po·ten′tial·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adv.

potentially - with a possibility of becoming actual; "he is potentially dangerous"; "potentially useful"

Translations

ذو طاقَةٍ كامِنَه

potencionálně

muligvis

potenziell

ενδεχομένως

potencialmente

en puissance éventuellement potentiellement

lehetségesen

mögulega

potenzialmente

eventuelt potensielt

potenciálne

potansiyel olarak

潜在地

potentially

[pəˈtenʃəlɪ] ADV → en potencia, potencialmente

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

potentially

[pəˈtɛnʃ^əli] adv

(with adjectives) → potentiellement
It's potentially dangerous → C'est potentiellement dangereux.

(= used as sentence adverb) → potentiellement
Potentially, this could damage the reputation of the whole industry → Potentiellement, cela pourrait entacher la réputation de l'industrie tout entière.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

potentially

adv → potenziell, potentiell; potentially, these problems are very serious → diese Probleme könnten sich als gravierend herausstellen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

potentially

[pəʊˈtɛnʃəlɪ] adv → potenzialmente

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

potential

(pəˈtenʃəl) adjective

possible; that may develop into the thing mentioned. That hole in the road is a potential danger.

noun

the possibility, or likelihood, of successful development (in a particular way). The land has great farming potential; He shows potential as a teacher.

poˈtentially adverb

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

I freely assert, that the cosmopolite philosopher cannot, for his life, point out one single peaceful influence, which within the last sixty years has operated more potentially upon the whole broad world, taken in one aggregate, than the high and mighty business of whaling.

View in context

Then, potentially: I may not and I cannot go home; and I might not, could not, would not, and should not go home; until I felt that I was going distracted, and rolled over on the pillow, and looked at the staring rounds upon the wall again.

View in context

He watched her pretty and unconscious munching through the skeins of smoke that pervaded the tent, and Tess Durbeyfield did not divine, as she innocently looked down at the roses in her bosom, that there behind the blue narcotic haze was potentially the "tragic mischief" of her drama--one who stood fair to be the blood-red ray in the spectrum of her young life.

View in context

At the time she came to Martin's shack, she was potentially any one of a half dozen women.

View in context

Air quality across Taiwan continues to be poor, with potentially harmful air quality recorded across 21 locations in central and southern Taiwan on Nov.

Red air pollution warning in place for central Taiwan

MONDAY, March 5, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- A substantial proportion of acute transfers from nursing facilities to hospitals are potentially avoidable, but symptoms and risk conditions are only weakly predictive of hospital diagnoses, according to a study published online Feb.

Determining 'Avoidability' of Nursing Home Transfers Complex; Patients' symptoms, risk conditions found to be only weakly predictive of hospital diagnoses

MP Irina Karamushkina (SDPK faction) believes that the territory of Ak-Tyuz village of Kemin district is considered as a potentially dangerous zone, because the soil and water are contaminated there after a pipe breakdown.

Chemical wastes leak in Ak-Tyuz: MP believes now area became potentially dangerous zone

The account review analyzed consumer and small business checking, savings, and unsecured credit card and line of credit account data to identify potentially unauthorized accounts (see Aug.

Wells Fargo completes expanded 3rd-party review of retail banking accounts

The rate of potentially preventable hospitalizations among patients who received primary care from NPs versus generalist physicians was compared.

Potentially preventable hospitalizations in patients with diabetes: nurse practitioners vs. physicians