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. Lexicurio rates it Evocative — a strength score of 47 out of 100.
Why this word is great
IDEMPOTENT — [Adjective] Relating to an operation that, when applied repeatedly, yields the same result as a single application. From the Latin idem ("the same") and potent- ("having power"), thus "having the same power." Coined in 1870 by mathematician Benjamin Peirce. Unlike an involution, an operation that is its own inverse and performs a frenetic two-step to return you to the start, or a nilpotent element, which grinds itself into oblivion through repetition, an idempotent operation arrives and then rests in serene constancy. It is the click of a light switch already on, the definitive database UPDATE that overwrites without creating a duplicate, or the final coat of paint that adds no new color—a quiet victory over the chaos of cumulative effect, where some actions, once correctly performed, are irrevocably and forever done.
adj
- (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.”
- (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.”
- (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.”
- (said of an algebraic structure) Having an idempotent operation (in the sense given above).
noun
- An idempotent element.
- An idempotent structure.