idempotence

English

Alternative forms

• idempotency

Etymology

Latin roots, idem (“same”) +‎ potence (“the quality of having power”) – literally, “the quality of having the same power”. Coined by 19th century American mathematician Benjamin Peirce in context of algebra.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɪdɛmˈpəʊtəns/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈaɪdəmˌpoʊtəns/

Noun

idempotence (uncountable)

1. (mathematics, computing) A quality of an action such that repetitions of the action have no further effect on the outcome; the state of being idempotent.
   • 2022 August 4, William Bahn, “Boolean Algebra Laws—Delving Into Boolean Identities”, in All About Circuits‎^[1]:

     The proof (Tables 9 and 10) of idempotence for both OR and AND follows from examining the definition of each operation under the constraint that both inputs have the same value.

Related terms

• idempotent
• impotence
• nilpotence
• nilpotent
• nullipotence
• nullipotent
• omnipotence
• potence
• potency
• potential
• unipotence
• unipotent

Translations

quality of an action such that repetitions of the action have no further effect on outcome – being idempotent

• Finnish: idempotenssi (fi)
• French: idempotence (fr) f
• Greek: ταυτοδυναµία f (taftodynaµía)
• Hungarian: idempotencia (hu)
• Macedonian: идемпотенција f (idempotencija)
• Russian: идемпоте́нтность (ru) f (idempoténtnostʹ)
• Spanish: idempotencia f

See also

• fixed point