English
impuissance
Impuissance comes from Middle French impuissance.
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600impuissance
- Englishearliest quotation 1603same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600impuissance
- Englishearliest quotation 1603same form
Earliest quotation: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “This fault, for a man not to be able…”
Every English word from Middle French impuissance
Today it means
noun Impotence, weakness.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle French impuissance / impuissance