Idempotence

Origin

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.

Polcino & Sehgal (2002), p. 127

Noun

1. (mathematics, computing) A quality of an action such that repetitions of the action have no further effect on outcome – being idempotent.

Related terms

• idempotent
• nilpotence
• unipotence