Potency may refer to: *

Potency (pharmacology) In pharmacology, potency or biological potency is a measure of a drug's biological activity expressed in terms of the dose required to produce a pharmacological effect of given intensity. A highly potent drug (e.g., fentanyl, clonazepam, rispe ...

, a measure of the activity of a drug in a biological system *

Virility Virility (from the Latin ''virilitas'', manhood or virility, derived from Latin ''vir'', man) refers to any of a wide range of masculine characteristics viewed positively. Virile means "marked by strength or force". Virility is commonly associ ...

Cell potency Cell potency is a Cell (biology), cell's ability to Cellular differentiation, differentiate into other cell types. The more cell types a cell can differentiate into, the greater its potency. Potency is also described as the gene activation potentia ...

, a measure of the differentiation potential of stem cells * In

homeopathic dilutions In homeopathy, homeopathic dilution (known by practitioners as "dynamisation" or "potentisation") is a process in which a substance is diluted with alcohol or distilled water and then vigorously shaken in a process called "succussion". Insoluble ...

, potency is a measure of how ''dilute'' a substance is * Potency in philosophy is a specific potentiality in Aristotle's Theory of

Potentiality and actuality In philosophy, potentiality and actuality are a pair of closely connected principles which Aristotle used to analyze motion, causality, ethics, and physiology in his ''Physics'', ''Metaphysics'', '' Nicomachean Ethics'', and '' De Anima''. Th ...

, or "Act and Potency"; e.g., since the material, stone, is potentially a statue, it has a potency for statuehood, of which the form of any statue is the "act"

See also