Idempotence

//ˈaɪdəmˌpoʊtəns// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A quality of an action such that repetitions of the action have no further effect on the outcome; the state of being idempotent. uncountable

    "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."

Example

More examples

"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."

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.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.