attrib.
- having or showing the capacity to become or develop into something in the future潜在的, 可能的：
a two-pronged campaign to woo potential customers.
双管齐下、旨在招引潜在顾客的商业宣传。
1
- mass noun latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness潜力, 潜能：
a young broadcaster with great potential
一位很有潜力的年轻播音员
count noun the potentials of the technology were never wholly controllable.该技术的潜能始终未能完全开发利用。
1.1
- （常作potential for/to do something）the possibility of something happening or of someone doing something in the future潜在性, 可能性：
the crane operator's clear view reduces the potential for accidents
起重机手的清晰视野能减少事故发生的可能性
pesticides with the potential to cause cancer.
可能致癌的杀虫剂。
2
- Physics the quantity determining the energy of mass in a gravitational field or of charge in an electric field【物理】势, 位; 电势, 电位。
派生词
potentiality
nounpotentialize
（亦作-ise）verbpotentially
adverb有潜在危险的产品。
词源
late Middle English: from late Latin potentialis, from potentia 'power'， from potent- 'being able' （see POTENT1）. The noun dates from the early 19th cent.