Word.ws English Dictionary

idempotent

/ˌaɪ.dəmˈpoʊ.tənt/

idempotent adjective: (said of a function) Such that, when performed multiple times on the same subject, it has no further effect on its subject after the first time it is performed.

Adjective

idempotent (not comparable)

  1. (said of a function) Such that, when performed multiple times on the same subject, it has no further effect on its subject after the first time it is performed.
    • A projection operator is idempotent.
    • An HTTP request using the PUT verb should be idempotent, so that it can be sent to the server any number of times with the same end result.
  2. (said of an element of an algebraic structure with a binary operation, such as a group or semigroup) Such that, when it operates on itself, the result is equal to itself.
    • Every finite semigroup has an idempotent element.
    • Every group has a unique idempotent element: namely, its identity element.
  3. (said of a binary operation) Such that all of the distinct elements it can operate on are idempotent (in the sense given just above).
    • Since the AND logical operator is commutative, associative, and idempotent, it distributes with respect to itself.
  4. (said of an algebraic structure) Having an idempotent operation (in the sense given above).

Noun

idempotent (plural idempotents)

  1. An idempotent element.
  2. An idempotent structure.

idempotent meaning in Tamil and Malayalam

idempotent in Tamil

தன்னடுக்கு

idempotent in Malayalam

വർഗസമം

Forms of idempotent

pluralidempotents

Origin of idempotent

From Latin roots idem (“same”) + potent (“having power”), thus “having the same power”. Coined in 1870 by American mathematician Benjamin Peirce in the context of algebra, later generalized to computer science.

Words formed from idempotent

Words that rhyme with idempotent

Questions about idempotent

What does idempotent mean?
Idempotent means (said of a function) Such that, when performed multiple times on the same subject, it has no further effect on its subject after the first time it is performed.
What is idempotent in Tamil?
Idempotent in Tamil is தன்னடுக்கு. See Idempotent meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is idempotent?
Idempotent can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce idempotent?
Idempotent is pronounced /ˌaɪ.dəmˈpoʊ.tənt/ (US).

Words near idempotent in the dictionary

  1. idemfacient
  2. idemfactor
  3. idemfactors
  4. idempotence
  5. idempotency
  6. idempotent
  7. idempotented
  8. idempotently
  9. idempotentness
  10. idempotents
  11. Iden

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: idempotent (page history and authors); idempotent (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); idempotent (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-idempotent.oga.

Cite this entry: “idempotent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/idempotent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.