Definition of "potential" []

• Capable of being but not yet in existence; latent: a potential problem. (adjective)
• Having possibility, capability, or power. (adjective)
• Grammar Of, relating to, or being a verbal construction with auxiliaries such as may or can; for example, it may snow. (adjective)
• The inherent ability or capacity for growth, development, or coming into being. (noun)
• Something possessing the capacity for growth or development. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The first potential stage is known as the _hylic_ or _potential intellect_."
• ""The club's got so much ­potential and needs to grow to become a ­company to match that potential," she emphasises, tapping into a trend that has increasingly come to dictate modern football."
• "It was guaranteed to be able to stop a diplodocus in full charge; the electric potential (_potential!"